UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  02665  2719 


Earuy 
jsthalian  v0yage3 


r 


ttBft^ 


4*4A 


h^^n 


ui 


SCHWEITZER'S   COOOAf(NA'. 


> 


C  Jiiti-JJijsj)e/>tic  Cocoa  or  Chocolate  Powder. 

(5ARARANTBED     PURE     SOLUBLE     COCOA. 

Consisting  solely  of  the  finest  Cocoa  Beans  with  the  excess  of  fat  extracted. 

The  Faculty  pronounce  it  the  most  nutritious,  perfectly  digestible  beverage 

for  Breakfast,  Luncheon,  or  Supper,  and  invaluable 

for  Invalids  and  Children. 

Made  instantaneously  with  boiling  water.     Palatable  without  Milk. 

A  tea  spoonful  to  a  breakfast-cup  costing  less  than  a  halfpenny. 

COCOATINA  possesses  remarkable  sustainiiiij  properties.     Specially  adapted  for 

Early  BREAKFASTS. 

In  air-tight  Tins  at  Is.  6d.,  3s.,  5s.  6d.,  &c..  by  Chemists  and  Grocers.         [6 


Blacka^Lead 


NO 
WASTE. 

NO 
DUST. 

NO 
DIRT. 


IliELLIN'S 
FOOD 


Price  1/6  &  2/6 
per  Bottle. 

For  the  Healthful 
Bearing  of  Hand 


ENTIRELY  SOLUBLE 

and  NOT 

FARINACEOUS. 


FOR 


Fed  Children,  and  the 
Preservation  of  Infant 
Lile. 


A  sample  sent  post  free  on  application  to 

o.  ivTEr>i^ii\r, 

Marlboro'  Works,  Feckham.  S.E. 


Rich  in 
Blood  stnd 
Bone* 
'orminjc 
Elements. 


INFANTS 
AND  INVALIOS. 


Enlargement  without  Increase  in  Price  of 

Cassell's  Time  Tables. 

MONTHI.Y,  4d. 

Set  in  NEW  TYPE  with  many  Novel  Features  not  to  be  found 
in  any  other  Railway  Guide— New  Maps,  &c.  &c. 

"CASSELL'S  TIIVIE  TABLES  enable  the  passenger  to  select  the  train 
required  without  the  slightest  difticulty  or  uncertainty."— ^^rw/w^/'^i/. 

Sold  at  all  Booksellers',  Bookstalls,  atui  Receiving  Offices, 


E.  A.  Voyages,  3.J 


THE  MEXICAN 
HAIR  RENEWEH. 

Prevents  the  Hair  Falling 

Out. 
Restores  Grey  Hair  to  its 

Natural  Colour. 
Is  not  a  Dye. 
Contains     no     Colouring 

Matter. 
Promotes  Growth. 
Eradicates  Dandruff. 
Keeps  the  Hair  Perfectly 

Clean. 
Does  not  Soil  the  Hands. 
Is  Delicately  Perfumed. 

Sold  hij  Medicine  DenJers 
and  Perfumers  everi/n'here. 
Price  3s.  6d.  per  buttle. 


FLORILINE 

FOR    THE    TEETH. 

Is  the  Best  Known  Denti- 
frice. 
Renders  the  Teeth  Pearly 

White. 
Makes  the  Gums  Hard  and 

Healthy. 
Stops  all  Decay. 
Gives  a  Fragrance  to  the 

Breath. 
Removes      Unpleasant 

Odours  from  the  Mouth. 
Removes    the     Smell      of 

Tobacco  Smoke. 
Is  Delicious  to  the  Taste, 
And  is  the  Greatest  Toilet 

Discovery  of  the  Age. 

Sold  hy  Chemists  nnfl  Per- 
fiimers  every  where  at  iis.  (id. 
per  case.  [24 


NOTICB. 

Classified    Catalogue,    giving    particulars    of 

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Or  INFANTS'  PRESERVATIVE.  The  only 
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^old  by  all  Chemists  and  Stores,  Is.  l^d. 
Sent  post  fy-ee  for  14  Stamps  by 

WOODWARD,  CHEMIST,  NOTTINGHAM.,, 

E.  A.  Voyages.    To  face  cover  a.] 


WONDERFUL  MEDICINE 

B  EEC  HAM'S  PILLS 

Are  admitted  by  thousands  to  be  worth  above  a  Guinea  a  Box 
for  Bilious  and  Nervous  Disorders,  such  as  Wind  and  Pain  in 
the  Stomach,  Sick  Headache,  Giddiness,  Fulness  and  Swelling 
after  meals.  Dizziness  and  Drowsiness,  Cold  Chills,  Flushings 
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first  dose  \vill  give  relief  in  20  minutes.  This  is  no  fiction,  for 
they  have  done  it  in  thousands  of  cases.  Every  sufferer  is 
earnestly  invited  to  try  one  box  of  these  Pills,  and  they  will  be 
acknowledged  to  be 

WORTH  A  GUINEA  A  BOX. 

For  Females  of  all  ages  these  Pills  are  invaluable,  as  a  few 
doses  of  them  carry  off  all  humours,  and  bring  about  all  that  is 
required.  No  female  should  be  without  them.  There  is  no 
medicine  to  be  found  to  equal  Beecham's  Pills  for  removing 
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females  of  all  ages  to  sound  and  robust  health. 

For  a  Weak  Stomach,  Impaired  Digestion,  and  all  Disorders 
of  the  Liver  they  act  like  "Magic,"  and  a  few  doses  will  be 
found  to  work  wonders  upon  the  most  important  organs  of  the 
human  machine.  They  strengthen  the  whole  muscular  system, 
restore  the  long-lost  complexion,  bring  back  the  keen  edge  of 
appetite,  and  arouse  into  action,  with  the  Rosebud  of  Health, 
the  whole  physical  energy  of  the  human  frame.  These  are 
"  facts"  admitted  by  thousands,  embracing  all  classes  of  society, 
and  one  of  the  best  guarantees  to  the  Nervous  and  Debilitated 
is  Beecham's  Pills  have  the  largest  sale  of  any  patent  medicine 
in  the  world. 

Full  Directions  are  given  with  each  Box. 
^oui  by  ail  Druggists  and  Patent  Medicine  Dealers  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  in  Boxes  at  \s.  \\d.  and  2s.  ^d.  each.  [30 

E.  A.  Voyaijes.     To  face  half-title.; 


^0 


EAELY  AUSTEALLAN  VOYAGES. 


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In  Weekly  Volumes,  price  3d.,  or  in  Clcth,  6d. 

CASSELL'S  NATIONAL  LIBRARY. 

Edited  by  HENRY  MORLEY,  LL.D. 

I   Warren  Hastings Lord  Macaulay. 

2.  My  Ten  Years'  Imprisonment    Silvio  Pellico. 

3-  The  Rivals,  and  the  School  fori  RICHARD  liRixsLEY 

Scandal  ..  ..  ••  ../  Sheridan. 
4  The  Autobiog^raphy  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 
-.  The  Complete  Angler    ..        ..    Isaac  Walton. 

f.  Childe  Harold         Lord  Bvrox. 

;.  The  Man  of  FeeUng       ••       ..    Henry  Mackenzie. 
^.  Sermons  on  the  Card      ..        •-    Bishop  Latimer. 
9-  Lives  of  Alexander  the  Great  1  Plutarch. 

10.  The  Castle  of btranto    ••        ..    Horace  Walrole. 

II-  Voyages  and  Travels     ..        ..    Sii^JohnMaundeville. 

12.  ShJ  Stoops  to  Congner,  andj^LivEK  Goldsmith. 

The  Good-Natured  Man      . .  j 
n-  TheLadvof  theLake    ..        ..    Sir  Walter  Scott. 
14-  Table  Talk     ..  ...      Martin  Luther. 

15.  The  Wisdom  of  the  Ancients  Ip^^^^.^is  Bacon. 

and  New  Atlantis       ..        ../ 

16.  Francis  Bacon        ..        ..        •.    Lord  Macaxilay. 

'^-  ^';w^°*">,*-^^®    ^"^"•'5^    ^Oetsl  SAMUEL   JOHNSON. 
(^\a^er,  Milton,  Cowley)  ..         ..J  ■' 

18.  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Dis-\pj,.,,.»,n  R,,p,.p 

contents,  and  Speeches      . .  /  ^i^^'^'^"  burke. 

19.  The  Battle  of  the  Books,  and!  t^xj.t,„  ..,  cwutt 

other  Short  Pieces     ..        ..  | Jonathan  bwirx. 

20.  Poems George  Crabbe. 

21.  Egypt  and  Scythia         ..        ..    Herodotus. 

22.  Hamlet  Wm.  SHAKr.sPi:ARF.. 

Voyagers'  Tales Richard  Hakluyt. 

24.  Nature  and  Art      Mrs.  Lncheald. 

25  Lives  of  Alcibiades  and  Corio- ) 

lanus,    Aristiaes    and    Cato  >  Plutarch. 
the  Censor ) 

26  &  27.  Life  and  Adventures  of  Baron  Trcnok.    2  \o\%. 
20.  Essavs Abraham  Cowley. 

29.  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley  and  the  1  Richard   Steele   and 

Spectator's  Club /    Joseph  Addiso.n. 

^o.  Voyages  and  Travels       ..        ..    Marco  Polo. 

^r.  The  Merchant  of  Venice..        ••    w,m.  Shakkspeare. 

-2.  Religio  Medici  Sir  T.  Browne,  M.D. 

^3-  The  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys.— 1660-1661. 

^4^  Milton's  Earlier  Poems. 

:5.  Voyages  in  search  of  the  North- 1 

West  Passage       |  Richard  Hakll\t. 

-6.  The  Sorrows  of  Wert er..        ..    Goethe. 
37.  Lives  of  the  English  Poets  (Biit-~| 

ler,  Denham,  Drjden,  Rosconiinon,  [-SAMUEL  JOHNSON. 

Spratt,  Dorset,  Rochester,  OtwayiJ 

-''.  Nathan  the  Wise Lessinc. 

:;>  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief  1.  ,„,,,.  ei-nyan 

of  Sinners j  john  l-inyan. 

4'.  Macbeth  .-        Wm.  Shakespeare. 

41    The  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys.— 1662— 1663. 

4;-  Poems      ,.    Alexander  Pope. 

43.  Early  Australian  Voyages      ..    John  Pinkerton. 

The  next  Volume  will  be 

The  Bravo  of  Venice.— By  M.  G.  Lewis. 

Cassell  &  Company,  Limited,  Ludsate  Hill,  Louacn. 

'     !-.-■■     '  '    I,  -   '        '■       '-;jy"   -   '  "'  ,  .     


CASSELL'S    NATIONAL    LIBRARY. 


Early 
Australian  Voyages 

|Jelsarl,       i^asman.       Jampier. 

BY 

JOHN    PINKERTOK 


CASSELL     &     COMPANY,     Limited: 

LONDO^^,    PARIS,    NEW    YORK   d-   MELBOURNE. 
1886. 


INTEODUCTION. 


In  the  days  of  Plato,  imagination  found  its  way, 
before  tlie  mariners,  to  a  new  world  across  the  Atlantic, 
and  fabled  an  Atlantis  where  America  now  stands.  In 
the  days  of  Francis  Bacon,  imagination  of  the  English 
found  its  way  to  the  great  Southern  Continent  before 
the  Portuguese  or  Dutch  sailors  had  sight  of  it,  and  it 
was  the  home  of  those  wise  students  of  God  and 
nature  to  whom  Bacon  gave  his  'New  Atlantis.  The 
discoveries  of  America  date  from  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  discoveries  of  Australia  date 
only  from  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth.  The  dis- 
coveries of  the  Dutch  were  little  known  in  England 
before  the  time  of  Dampier's  voyage,  at  the  close  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  with  which  this  volume  ends. 
The  name  of  New  Holland,  first  given  by  the  Dutch 
to  the  land  they  discovered  on  the  north-west  coast, 
then  extended  to  the  continent  and  was  since  changed 
to  Australia. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  exploration  was  con- 
tinued by  the  English.  The  good  report  of  Captain 
Cook  caused  the  first  British  settlement  to  be  made  at 
Port  Jackson,  in  1788,  not  quite  a  liundred  years  ago, 
and  the  foundations  were  then  laid  of  the  settlement  of 
New  Soutli  Wales,  or  Sydney.  It  was  at  first  a  penal 
colony,  and  its  Botany  Bay  was  a  name  of  terror  to 
offenders.  Western  Australia,  or  Swan  River,  was  first 
settled  as  a  free  colony  in  1829,  but  afterwards  used 


6  iNTRODUCTlOTf. 

also  as  a  penal  settiomeut ;  South  Australia,  -wlnoli  has 
Adelaido  for  its  capital,  was  first  established  in  1834, 
and  colonised  in  1836  ;  Yictoria,  with  Melbourne  for 
its  capital,  known  until  1851  as  the  Port  Philip 
District,  and  a  dependency  of  New  South  Wales,  was 
first  colonised  in  1835.  It  received  in  1851  its  present 
uaiue.  Queensland,  formerly  known  as  the  Moretou 
Bay  District,  was  established  as  late  as  1859.  A 
settlement  of  Nortli  Australia  was  tried  in  1838,  and 
has  since  been  abandoned.  On  the  other  side  of  Bass's 
Straits,  the  island  of  Van  Diemen's  Land,  was  named 
Tasmania,  and  established  as  a  penal  colony  in  1803. 

Advance,  Australia!  The  scattered  liandfuls  of 
people  have  become  a  nation,  one  with  us  in  race, 
and  character,  and  wortliiness  of  aim.  These  little 
volumes  will,  in  course  of  time,  include  many  aids  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  shaping  of  tlie  nations.  There  will 
be  later  records  of  Australia  than  these  which  tell  of 
tlie  old  Dutch  explorers,  and  of  the  first  real  awakening 
of  England  to  a  knowledge  of  Australia  by  Dampier's 
voyage. 

The  great  Australian  continent  is  2,500  miles  long 
from  east  to  west,  and  1,960  miles  in  its  greatest  breadth. 
Its  climates  are  therefore  various.  The  northern  half 
lies  chiefly  within  t]ie  tropics,  and  at  Melbourne  snow 
is  seldom  seen  except  upon  the  hills.  The  separation 
of  Australia  by  wide  seas  from  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
and  America,  gives  it  animals  and  plants  j)eculiarly  its 
own.  It  has  been  said  that  of  5,710  plants  discovered, 
5,440  are  peculiar  to  that  continent.  Tlie  kangaroo 
also  is  proper  to  Australia,  and  there  are  other  animals 
of  like  kind.  Of  58  species  of  quadruped  found  in 
Australia,  46  were  peculiar  to  it.  Sheep  and  cattle 
that  abound  there  now  were  introduced  from  Europe. 
From  eight  merino  sheep  introduced  in  1793  by  a 
settler  named  McArthur,  there  has  been  multiplication 


INTROBUCTIOIT.  7 

into  millions,  and  the  food-storo  of  tlie  Old  "World 
begins  to  be  replenished  by  Australian  mutton. 

The  unexplored  interior  has  given  a  happy  hunting- 
ground  to  satisfy  the  British  spirit  of  adventure  and 
research  ;  but  large  waterless  tracts,  that  baffle  man's 
ingenuity,  have  j)ut  man's  powers  of  endurance  to  sore 
trial. 

The  mountains  of  Australia  are  all  of  the  oldest 
rocks,  in  which  there  are  either  no  fossil  traces  of  past 
life,  or  the  traces  are  of  life  in  the  most  ancient  forms. 
Resemblance  of  the  Australian  cordilleras  to  the  Ural 
range,  which  he  had  especially  been  studying,  caused 
Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  in  1844,  to  predict  that  gold 
would  be  found  in  Australia.  Tlie  first  finding  of  gold 
— the  beginning  of  the  history  of  the  Australian  gold- 
fields  —  was  in  February,  1851,  near  Bathurst  and 
"Wellington,  and  to-day  looks  Ijack  to  the  morning  of 
yesterday  in  the  name  of  Ophir,  given  to  the  Bathurst 
gold-diggings. 

Gold,  wool,  mutton,  wine,  fruits,  and  what  more 
Australia  can  now  add  to  tlie  commonwealth  of  the 
English  -  speaking  people.  Englishmen  at  home  have 
been  learning  this  year  in  the  great  Indian  and  Colonial 
Exhibition,  which  is  to  stand  always  as  evidence  of  the 
numerous  resources  of  the  Empire,  as  aid  to  the  full 
knowledge  of  them,  and  through  that  to  their  wide 
diffusion.  We  are  a  long  way  now  from  the  wrecked 
ship  of  Captain  Francis  Pelsart,  with  which  tlie 
lii stories  in  this  volume  begin. 

John  Pinkerton  was  born  at  Edin])urgh  in  Fel)ruary, 
1758,  and  died  in  Paris  in  March,  1826,  aged  sixty- 
eight.  He  was  the  best  classical  seliolar  at  the  Lanark 
grammar  school ;  but  his  father,  refusing  to  send  him 
to  a  university,  bound  him  to  Scottish  law.  He  had  a 
strong  will,  fortified  in  some  respects  by  a  weak 
judgment.     He  wrote  clever  verse;    at  the  age  of 


0  INTRODUCTION. 

twenty-two  lie  went  to  London  to  support  himself  by- 
literature,  began  by  publishing  "Rimes"  of  his  own, 
and  then  Scottish  Ballads,  all  issued  as  ancient,  but  of 
which  he  afterwards  admitted  that  fourteen  out  of  the 
seventy-three  were  wholly  written  by  himself.  John 
Pinkerton,  whom  Sir  Walter  Scott  described  as  "  a 
man  of  considerable  learning,  and  some  severity  as 
well  as  acutenoss  of  disposition,"  made  clear  conscience 
on  the  matter  in  1786,  when  he  published  two  volumes 
of  genuine  old  Scottish  Poems  from  the  MS.  collec- 
tions of  Sir  Richard  Maitland.  He  had  added  to  his 
credit  as  an  antiquary  by  an  Essay  on  Medals,  and 
then  applied  his  studies  to  ancient  Scottish  History, 
producing  learned  books,  in  which  he  bitterly  abused 
the  Celts.  It  was  in  1802  that  Pinkerton  left  England 
for  Paris,  where  he  supported  himself  by  indefatigable 
industry  as  a  writer  during  the  last  twenty-four  years 
of  his  life.  One  of  the  most  useful  of  his  many  works 
was  that  General  Collection  of  the  best  and  most  in- 
teresting Vol) ages  and  Travels  of  the  World,  which 
appeared  in  seventeen  quarto  volumes,  with  maps  and 
engravings,  in  the  years  1808 — 1814.  Pinkerton 
abridged  and  digested  most  of  the  travellers'  records 
given  in  this  series,  but  always  studied  to  retain  the 
travellers'  own  words,  and  liis  occasional  comments 
have  a  value  of  their  own. 

H.  M. 


Early  Australian  Voyages. 


VOYAGE  OF   FRANCIS   PELSAHT  TO 
AUSTRALASIA. 

162  8  —  2  9. 

It  lias  appeared  very  strange  to  some  very  able 
judges  of  voyages,  that  tlie  Dutcli  slioiild  make  so 
great  account  of  the  southern  countries  as  to  cause 
the  map  of  them'  to  be  laid  down  in  the  pavement  of 
the  Stadt  House  at  Amsterdam,  and  yet  ]Dublish  no 
descriptions  of  them.  This  myste-ry  was  a  good  deal 
heightened  by  one  of  the  ships  that  first  touched  on 
Carpenter's  Land,  bringing  home  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  gold,  spices,  and  other  rich  goods  ;  in  order 
to  clear  up  which,  it  was  said  that  these  were  not  tho 
product  of  the  country,  but  were  fished  out  of  the 
wreck  of  a  large  ship  that  had  been  lost  upon  the 
coast.  But  this  story  did  not  satisfy  the  inquisitive, 
because  not  attended  with  circumstances  necessary  to 
establish  its  credit;  and  therefore  they  suggested 
that,  instead  of  taking  away  the  obscurity  by  relating 
the  truth,  this  story  was  invented  in  order  to  hide  it 
more  effectually.     This  suspicion  gained  ground  the 


10  EARLY  AUSTHALIAN  VOYAGES. 

more  wlien  it  was  known  tliat  the  Dutch  East  India 
Company  from  Batavia  had  made  some  attemj)ts  to 
conquer  a  part  of  the  Southern  coniinent,  and  had 
been  repulsed  with  loss,  of  which,  however,  we  hare 
no  distinct  or  perfect  relation,  and  all  that  hatli 
hitherto  been  collected  in  reference  to  this  subject, 
may  be  reduced  to  two  voyages,  All  that  we  know 
concerning  the  following  piece  is,  that  it  was  collected 
from  the  Dutch  journal  of  the  voyage,  and  having 
said  thus  much  by  way  of  introduction,  we  now  pro- 
ceed to  the  translation  of  this  short  history. 

The  directors  of  the  East  India  Company,  animated 
by  the  return  of  five  ships,  under  General  Carpenter, 
richly  laden,  caused,  the  very  same  year,  1628,  eleven 
vessels  to  be  equipped  for  the  same  voyage  ;  amongst 
which  there  was  one  ship  called  the  Batavia,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Francis  Pelsart.  They  sailed  out 
of  the  Texel  on  the  28th  of  October,  1628 ;  and  as  it 
would  be  tedious  and  troublesome  to  the  reader  to  set 
down  a  long  account  of  things  perfectly  well  known,  I 
shall  say  nothing  of  the  occurrences  that  happened  in 
their  passage  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  but  content 
myself  with  observing  that  on  the  4th  of  June,  in  the 
following  year  1629,  this  vessel,  the  Batavia,  being 
separated  from  the  fleet  in  a  storm,  was  driven  on  the 
Abrollos  or  shoals,  which  lie  in  tlie  latitude  of  28  degrees 
south,  and  which  have  been  since  called  by  the  Dutch, 
the  Abrollos  of  Frederic  Houtmau.  Captain  Pelsart, 
who  was  sick  in  bed  when  this  accident  happened,  per- 


PELSART'S  voyage   to  AUSTRALASIA.  11 

ceiving  that  liis  sliii^  had  struck,  ran  immediately  upon 
deck.  It  was  nig]it  indeed ;  but  the  weather  was  fair, 
and  the  moon  shone  very  briglit ;  the  sails  were  up ; 
the  course  they  steered  was  north-east  by  north,  and 
the  sea  appeared  as  far  as  they  could  ])ehold  it  covered 
with  a  white  frotli.  Tlie  captain  called  up  the 
master  and  charged  him  with  the  loss  of  the  ship,  who 
excused  himself  by  saying  he  had  taken  all  the  care  he 
could ;  and  that  having  discerned  this  froth  at  a  dis- 
tance, he  asked  the  steersman  what  he  thought  of  it, 
who  told  him  that  the  sea  appeared  w^hite  by  its  re- 
flecting the  rays  of  the  moon.  The  captain  then  asked 
him  what  was  to  be  done,  and  in  what  part  of  the 
world  he  thought  they  were.  The  master  replied, 
that  God  only  know  that ;  and  that  the  ship  was  fast 
on  a  bank  hitherto  undiscovered.  Upon  t]iis  they 
began  to  throw  the  lead,  and  found  that  they  had 
forty-eight  feet  of  water  before,  and  much  less  behind 
the  vessel.  The  crew  immediately  agreed  to  throw 
their  cannon  overl)oard,  in  hopes  tliat  wlien  the  ship 
was  lightened  she  might  bo  brought  to  float  agc'iin. 
Tliey  let  fall  an  anchor  however ;  and  while  they  were 
thus  employed,  a  most  dreadful  storm  arose  of  wind 
and  rain;  which  soon  convinced  tliem  of  the  danger 
tliey  were  in ;  for  lieing  surrounded  with  rocks  and 
shoals,  the  ship  was  continually  striking. 

They  then  resolved  to  cutaway  the  main-mast,  which 
they  did,  and  this  augmented  the  shock,  neither  could 
they  get  clear  of  it,  though  they  cut  it  close  by  the 


12  EAELY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

hoard,  because  it  was  mucli  entangled  with  the  rigging ; 
they  could  see  no  land  except  an  island  which  was 
about  the  distance  of  three  leagues,  and  two  smaller 
islands,  or  rather  rocks,  which  lay  nearer.  They  im- 
mediately sent  the  master  to  examine  them,  who  re- 
turned about  nine  in  the  morning,  and  reported  that  the 
Bea  at  high  water  did  not  cover  them,  but  that  the  coast 
was  so  rocky  and  full  of  shoals  that  it  would  be  very 
difficult  to  land  u^jon  them ;  they  resolved,  however,  to 
run  the  risk,  and  to  send  most  of  their  company  on 
shore  to  pacify  the  women,  children,  sick  jjeople,  and 
such  as  were  out  of  their  wits  with  fear,  whose  cries 
and  noise  served  only  to  disturb  them.  About  ten 
o'clock  they  embarked  these  in  their  shallop  and  skiff, 
and,  perceiving  their  vessel  began  to  break,  they  doubled 
their  diligence  ;  they  likewise  endeavoured  to  get  their 
l^read  up,  l)ut  tlicy  did  not  take  the  same  care  of  the 
water,  not  reflecting  in  their  fright  that  they  might  be 
much  distressed  for  want  of  it  on  shore ;  and  what  hin- 
dered them  most  of  all  was  the  brutal  behaviour  of  some 
of  the  crow  that  made  themselves  drunk  with  wine,  of 
which  no  care  was  taken.  In  short,  such  was  their 
confusion  that  they  made  but  three  trips  that  day, 
carrying  over  to  the  island  180  persons,  twenty  barrels 
of  bread,  and  some  small  casks  of  water.  The  master 
returned  on  board  towards  evening,  and  told  the  cap- 
tain that  it  was  to  no  purpose  to  send  more  provisions 
on  shore,  since  the  people  only  wasted  those  they  had 
already.     Upon  this  the  captain  went  in  the  shallop, 


PELSAET's  voyage   to  AUSTRALASIA.  13 

to  put  things  in  better  order,  and  was  then  informed 
that  there  was  no  water  to  be  found  upon  the  island ; 
he  endeavoured  to  return  to  the  ship  in  order  to  bring 
off  a  supply,  together  with  the  most  valuable  part 
of  their  cargo,  but  a  storm  suddenly  arising,  he  was 
forced  to  return. 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  removing  their  water 
and  most  valuable  goods  on  shore ;  and  afterwards 
the  captain  in  the  skiff,  and  the  master  in  the  shallop, 
endeavoured  to  return  to  the  vessel,  but  found  the  sea 
run  so  high  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  on  board. 
In  this  extremity  the  carpenter  threw  himself  out  of 
the  ship,  and  swam  to  them,  in  order  to  inform  them 
to  what  hardships  those  left  in  the  vessel  were  reduced, 
and  they  sent  him  back  with  orders  for  them  to  make 
rafts,  by  tying  the  planks  together,  and  endeavour  on 
these  to  reach  the  shallop  and  skiff ;  but  before  this 
could  be  done,  the  weather  became  so  rough  that  the 
captain  was  obliged  to  return,  leaving,  with  the  utmost 
grief,  his  lieutenant  and  seventy  men  on  the  very 
point  of  perishing  on  board  the  vessel.  Those  Avho 
were  got  on  the  little  island  were  not  in  a  much  better 
condition,  for,  upon  taking  an  account  of  their  water, 
they  found  they  had  not  above  40  gallons  for  40 
people,  and  on  the  larger  island,  where  there  were 
120,  their  stock  was  still  IcoJ.  Tliose  on  the  littlo 
island  began  to  murmur,  and  to  complain  of  their 
ofiScers,  because  they  did  not  go  in  search  of  water,  iu 
the  islands  that  were  within  sight  of  them,  and  they 


14  EARLY   AUSTP^ALIAN   VOYAGES. 

represented  tlie  necessity  of  tliis  to  Captain  Pelsart, 
who  agreed  to  tlieir  request,  but  insisted  before  lie 
went  to  communicate  his  design  to  the  rest  of  the 
people  ;  they  consented  to  this,  but  not  till  the  captain 
had  declared  that,  without  the  consent  of  the  company 
on  the  large  island,  he  would,  rather  than  leave  them, 
go  and  perish  on  board  the  ship.  Wlien  they  were  got 
pretty  near  the  shore,  he  who  commanded  the  boat 
told  the  captain  that  if  he  had  anything  to  say,  he 
must  cry  out  to  the  people,  for  that  they  would  not 
suffer  him  to  go  out  of  the  boat.  The  captain 
immediately  attempted  to'  throw  himself  overboard  in 
order  to  swim  to  the  island.  Those  who  were  in  the 
boat  prevented  him  ;  and  all  that  he  could  obtain  from 
them  was,  to  throw  on  shore  his  table-book,  in  which 
he  wrote  a  line  or  two  to  inform  them  that  he  was 
gone  in  the  skiff  to  look  for  water  in  the  adjacent 
islands. 

He  accordingly  coasted  them  all  with  the  greatest 
care,  and  found  in  most  of  tliem  considerable  quantities 
of  water  in  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  but  so  mixed  with 
the  sea-water  that  it  was  unfit  for  use ;  and  therefore 
they  were  obliged  to  go  farther.  The  first  thing  they 
did  was  to  make  a  deck  to  their  boat,  because  they 
found  it  was  impracticable  to  navigate  those  seas  in  an 
open  vessel.  Some  of  the  crew  joined  them  by  the 
time  the  work  was  finished;  and  the  captain  having 
obtained  a  paj)er,  signed  by  all  his  men,  import- 
ing that  it  Tras  their  desire  that  he   should  go  in 


PELSART's  voyage   to  AtJSTKALASIA.  15 

search  of  w.ater,  he  immediately  j)^^  ^o  s^^'  having 
first  taken  an  observation  by  which  he  found  tliey 
were  in  the  latitude  of  28  degrees  13  minutes  south. 
They  had  not  been  long  at  sea  before  they  had  sight 
of  the  continent,  wliich  appeared  to  them  to  lie  about 
sixteen  miles  north  by  west  from  the  place  they  had 
suffered  shipwreck.  They  found  about  twenty-five 
or  thirty  fathoms  water ;  and  as  night  drew  on,  they 
kept  out  to  sea ;  and  after  midnight  stood  in  for  the 
land,  that  they  might  be  near  the  coast  in  the  morn- 
ing. On  the  9th  of  June  they  found  themselves  as 
they  reckoned,  about  three  miles  from  the  shore ;  on 
which  they  plied  all  that  day,  sailing  sometimes  north, 
sometimes  west;  the  country  appearing  low,  naked, 
and  the  coast  excessively  rocky  ;  so  that  they  thought 
it  resembled  the  country  near  Dover.  At  last  tliey 
saw  a  little  creek,  into  which  they  w^ere  willing  to  put, 
because  it  appeared  to  have  a  sandy  bottom ;  but  when 
they  attempted  to  enter  it,  the  sea  ran  so  high  that 
they  were  forced  to  desist. 

On  the  10th  they  remained  on  the  same  coast, 
plying  to  and  again,  as  they  had  done  the  day  before  ; 
but  tlie  Aveather  growing  worse  and  worse,  they  were 
obliged  to  abandon  tlieir  sliallop,  and  even  throw  part 
of  their  bread  overboard,  because  it  hindered  fhem 
from  clearing  themselves  of  the  water,  which  their 
vessel  began  to  make  A^ery  fast.  That  night  it  rained 
most  terribly,  which,  though  it  gave  them  much 
trouble,  afforded  them  hopes  that  it  would  prove  a 


16  EAULY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

great  relief  to  the  people  they  had  left  behind  them  on 
the  islands.  Tlie  wind  began  to  sink  on  the  11th ;  and 
as  it  blew  from  the  west-south-west,  they  continued 
their  course  to  the  north,  the  sea  running  still  so  high 
that  it  was  impossible  to  ap]3roach  the  shore.  On  the 
12th,  they  had  an  observation,  by  which  they  found 
themselves  in  the  latitude  of  27  degrees ;  they  sailed 
with  a  south-east  wind  all  that  day  along  the  coast, 
which  they  found  so  steep  that  there  was  no  getting 
on  shore,  inasmuch  as  there  was  no  creek  or  low  land 
without  the  rocks,  as  is  commonly  observed  on  sea- 
coasts  ;  which  gave  them  the  more  pain  because 
within  land  the  country  appeared  very  fruitful  and 
pleasant.  They  found  themselves  on  the  13th  in  the 
latitude  of  25  degrees  40  minutes  ;  by  which  they  dis- 
covered that  the  current  set  to  the  north.  They  were 
at  this  time  over  against  an  opening ;  the  coast  lying 
to  the  north-east,  they  continued  a  north  course,  but 
found  the  coast  one  continued  rock  of  red  colour  all  of 
a  height,  against  which  the  waves  broke  with  such 
force  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  land. 

The  wind  blew  very  fresh  in  the  morning  on  the 
14th,  but  towards  noon  it  fell  calm;  they  were  then 
in  the  height  of  24  degrees,  with  a  small  gale  at 
east,  but  the  tide  still  carried  them  further  north  than 
they  desired,  because  their  design  was  to  make  a 
descent  as  soon  as  possible ;  and  with  this  view  they 
sailed  slowly  along  the  coast,  till,  perceiving  a  great 
deal  of  smoke  at  a  distance,  they  rowed  towards  it  as 


PELSART'S   voyage    to   AUSTRALASIA.  17 

fast  as  they  were  able,  in  liopes  of  finding  men,  and 
water,  of  course.  When  they  came  near  the  shore, 
they  found  it  so  steep,  so  full  of  rocks,  and  the  sea 
beating  over  them  with  such  fury,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  land.  Six  of  the  men,  however,  trusting  to 
their  skill  in  swimming,  threw  themselves  into  the  sea 
and  resolved  to  get  on  shore  at  any  rate,  which  with 
great  difficulty  and  danger  they  at  last  effected,  tlie 
boat  remaining  at  anchor  in  twenty-five  fathoms  water. 
The  men  on  shore  spent  the  whole  day  in  looking  for 
water ;  and  while  they  were  thus  employed,  they  saw 
four  men,  who  came  up  very  near;  but  one  of  tlie 
Dutch  sailors  advancing  towards  them,  they  imme- 
diately ran  away  as  fast  as  they  were  able,  so  that  they 
were  distinctly  seen  by  those  in  the  boat.  These  people 
were  black  savages,  quite  naked,  not  having  so  much 
as  any  covering  about  their  middle.  The  sailors,  find- 
ing no  hopes  of  water  on  all  the  coast,  swam  on  board 
again,  much  hurt  and  wounded  by  their  being  beat  by 
the  waves  upon  the  rocks ;  and  as  soon  as  they  were  on 
board,  they  weighed  anchor,  and  continued  their  course 
along  the  shore,  in  hopes  of  finding  some  better  landing- 
place. 

On  the  25th,  in  the  morning,  they  discovered  a  cape, 
from  the  point  of  which  there  ran  a  ridge  of  rocks  a 
mile  into  the  sea,  and  behind  it  another  ridge  of  rocks. 
They  ventured  between  them,  as  the  sea  was  pretty 
calm;  but  finding  there  was  no  j)assage,  they  soon 
returned.     About  noon  they  saw  another  opening,  and 


18        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

the  sea  being  still  very  smooth,  they  entered  it,  though 
the  passage  was  very  dangerous,  inasmuch  as  they  had 
but  two  feet  water,  and  the  bottom  full  of  stones, 
the  coast  appearing  a  flat  sand  for  about  a  mile.  As 
soon  as  they  got  on  shore]  they  fell  to  digging  in  the 
sand,  but  the  water  tliat  came  into  tlieir  wells  was  so 
brackish  that  they  could  not  drink  it,  though  they 
were  on  the  very  point  of  choking  for  thirst.  At  last, 
in  the  hollows  of  the  rocks,  they  met  with  considerable 
quantities  of  rain-water,  which  was  a  great  relief  to 
them,  since  they  had  been  for  some  days  at  no  better 
allowance  than  a  j)int  a-piece.  They  soon  furnished 
tliemselves  in  the  night  with  about  eighty  gallons, 
perceiving,  in  the  place  where  they  landed,  that  the 
savages  had  been  there  lately,  by  a  large  heap  of  ashes 
and  the  remains  of  some  cray-fish. 

On  the  16th,  in  the  morning,  they  returned  on  shore, 
in  hopes  of  getting  more  water,  but  were  disappointed ; 
and  having  now  time  to  observe  the  country,  it  gave 
them  no  great  hopes  of  better  success,  even  if  they  had 
travelled  farther  within  land,  which  appeared  a  thirsty, 
barren  plain,  covered  with  ant-hills,  so  high  that  they 
looked  afar  off  like  the  huts  of  negroes;  and  at  the 
same  time  they  were  plagued  with  flies,  and  those  in 
such  multitudes  that  they  were  scarce  able  to  defend 
themselves.  They  saw  at  a  distance  eight  savages, 
with  each  a  staff  in  his  hand,  who  advanced  towards 
them  within  musket-shot;  but  as  soon  as  they  per- 
ceived the  Dutcli  sailors  moving  towards  them,  they 


PELSAET'S  voyage   to  AUSTRALACilA.  19 

fled  as  fast  as  tliey  were  able.  It  Avas  by  this  time 
about  noon,  and,  perceiving  no  appearance  eitlier  of 
getting  water,  or  entering  into  any  correspondence  vriili 
the  natives,  tliey  resolved  to  go  on  board  and  continue 
their  course  towards  tbe  north,  in  hopes,  as  they  were 
already  in  the  latitude  of  22  degrees  17  minutes,  they 
miglit  be  able  to  find  the  river  of  Jacob  Remmescens ; 
but  the  wind  veering  about  to  the  north-east,  they 
were  not  able  to  continue  longer  upon  that  coast,  and 
therefore  reflecting  that  they  were  now  above  one 
hundred  miles  from  the  place  where  they  were  ship- 
wrecked, and  had  scarce  as  much  water  as  would  serve 
them  in  their  passage  back,  they  came  to  a  settled 
resolution  of  making  the  best  of  their  way  to  Batavia, 
in  order  to  acquaint  the  Governor- General  with  their 
misfortunes,  and  to  obtain  such  assistance  as  was 
necessary  to  get  their  people  off  the  coast. 

On  the  17th  they  continued  their  course  to  the 
north-east,  with  a  good  Avind  and  fair  weather;  the 
18th  and  19th  it  blow  hard,  and  they  had  much  rain ; 
on  the  20th  they  found  themselves  in  19  degrees 
22  minutes;  on  the  22nd  tliey  had  another  ol)servatioi), 
and  found  themselves  in  the  height  of  16  degrees 
10  minutes,  which  surprised  them  very  much,  and  was 
a  plain  proof  that  the  current  carried  them  nortliAvards 
at  a  great  rate ;  on  the  27th  it  rained  A'^ery  hard,  so 
that  they  were  not  able  to  take  an  observation;  but 
toAvards  noon  they  saAV,  to  their  great  satisfaction,  the 
coasts  of  JaA^a,  in  the  latitude  of  8  dPOToes.  at  tho 


20         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

distance  of  about  four  or  five  miles.  They  altered 
their  course  to  west-north-west,  and  towards  evening 
entered  the  gulf  of  an  island  very  full  of  trees,  where 
they  anchored  in  eight  fathoms  water,  and  there  passed 
the  night ;  on  the  28th,  in  the  morning,  they  weighed, 
and  rowed  with  all  their  force,  in  order  to  make  the 
land,  that  they  might  'search  for  water,  being  now 
again  at  the  point  of  perishing  for  thirst.  Yery 
happily  for  them,  they  were  no  sooner  on  shore  than 
they  discovered  a  fine  rivulet  at  a  small  distance, 
where,  having  comfortably  quenched  their  thirst,  and 
filled  all  their  casks  with  water,  they  about  noon 
continued  their  course  for  Batavia. 

On  the  29th,  about  midnight,  in  the  second  watch, 
they  discovered  an  island,  which  they  left  on  their 
starboard.  About  noon  they  found  themselves  in  the 
height  of  6  degrees  48  minutes.  About  three  in  the 
afternoon  they  passed  between  two  islands,  the  western- 
most of  which  appeared  full  of  cocoa  trees.  In  the 
evening  they  were  about  a  mile  from  the  south  point 
of  JaA^a,  and  in  the  second  wartcli  exactly  between  Java 
and  the  Isle  of  Princes.  The  30th,  in  the  morning, 
they  found  themselves  on  the  coast  of  the  last-mentioned 
island,  not  being  able  to  make  above  two  miles  that 
day.  On  July  1st  the  weather  was  calm,  and  about 
noon  they  were  three  leagues  from  Dwaersiudenwegh, 
that  is,  Thwart-the-way  Island ;  but  towards  the  even- 
ing they  had  a  pretty  brisk  wind  at  north-west,  which 
enabled  them  to  gain  that  coast.     On  the  2nd,  in  the 


PELSART's  voyage   to  AUSTRALASIA.  21 

morning,  they  were  right  against  the  island  of  Topers- 
hoetien,  and  were  obliged  to  lie  at  anchor  till  eleven 
o'clock,  waiting  for  the  sea-breeze,  which,  however, 
blew  so  faintly  that  they  were  not  able  to  make  above 
two  miles  that  day.  About  sunset  they  perceived  a 
vessel  between  them  and  Thwart-the-way  Island,  upon 
which  they  resolved  to  anchor  as  near  the  shore  as  they 
could  that  night,  and  there  wait  the  arrival  of  the  ship. 
In  the  morning  they  went  on  board  her,  in  hopes  of 
procuring  arms  for  their  defence,  in  case  the  inhabitants 
of  Java  were  at  war  with  the  Dutch.  They  found  two 
other  ships  in  company,  on  board  one  of  which  was 
Mr.  Hamburg,  counsellor  of  the  Indies.  Caxjtain 
Pelsart  went  immediately  on  board  his  ship,  where  he 
acquainted  him  with  the  nature  of  his  misfortune,  and 
went  with  him  afterwards  to  Batavia. 

Wo  will  now  leave  the  captain  soliciting  succours 
from  the  Governor- G-eneral,  in  order  to  return  to  the 
crew  who  were  left  upon  the  islands,  among  whom 
there  happened  such  transactions  as,  in  their  condition, 
the  reader  would  little  expect,  and  perhaps  will  hardly 
credit.  In  order  to  their  being  thorouglily  understood, 
it  if=  necessary  to  observe  that  they  had  for  supercargo 
one  Jerom  Cornelis,  who  had  been  formerly  an 
apothecary  at  Harlem.  This  man,  when  they  were  on 
the  coast  of  Africa,  had  plotted  with  the  pilot  and 
some  others  to  run  away  with  the  vessel,  and  either  to 
carry  her  into  Dunkirk,  or  to  turn  pirates  in  her  on 
their  own  account.     This  supercargo  had  remained  ten 


2a  EAPvLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

days  on  hoard  the  ^Yreck,  uot  l)eing  able  in  all  that 
time  to  get  on  shore.  Two  whole  days  he  spent  on  tlie 
mainmast,  floating  to  and  fro,  till  at  last,  by  the  help 
of  one  of  the  yards,  he  got  to  land.  When  he  was  once 
on  shore,  the  command,  in  the  absence  of  Captain 
Pelsart,  devolved  of  conrse  npon  him,  which  imme- 
diately revived  in  his  mind  his  old  design,  insomuch 
that  he  resolved  to  lay  hold  of  tliis  opportunity  to 
make  himself  master  of  all  that  could  be  saved  out  of 
the  wreck,  conceiving  that  it  would  be  easy  to  surprise 
the  captain  on  his  return,  and  determining  to  go  on  the 
account — that  is  to  say,  to  turn  pirate  in  the  captain's 
vessel.  In  order  to  carry  this  design  into  execution, 
he  thought  necessary  to  rid  themselves  of  such  of  the 
crew  as  were  not  like  to  come  into  their  scheme ;  but 
before  he  proceeded  to  dip  his  hands  in  blood,  he 
obliged  all  the  conspirators  to  sign  an  instrument,  by 
which  they  engaged  to  stand  by  each  other. 

The  whole  ship's  company  were  on  shore  in  three 
islands,  the  greatest  part  of  them  in  that  where 
Cornelis  was,  which  island  they  thought  lit  to  call  the 
burying-i)lace  of  Batavia.  One  Mr.  Weybhays  was 
sent  with  another  body  into  an  adjacent  island  to  look 
for  water,  which,  after  twenty  days'  search,  he  found, 
and  made  the  appointed  signal  by  lighting  three  fires, 
whicli,  however,  were  not  seen  nor  taken  notice  of  by 
those  under  the  command  of  Cornelis,  because  they 
were  busy  in  butchering  their  companions,  of  Avhom 
they  ]iad  inurdered  between  thirty  and  forty;  but  some 


PELSART  S  VOYAGE   TO  AUSTRALASIA.  23 

few,  however,  got  olf  upon  a  raft  of  planks  tied 
together,  and  went  to  the  island  where  Mr.  Weybhays 
was,  in  order  to  acquaint  liini  with  tlie  dreadful 
accident  tliat  had  happened.  Mr.  Weybhays  having" 
with  him  forty-five  men,  tliey  all  resolved  to  stand 
upon  their  guard,  and  to  defend  themselves  to  the  last 
man,  in  case  these  villains  should  attack  them.  This 
indeed  was  their  design,  for  they  were  apprehensive 
both  of  this  body,  and  of  those  who  were  on  tlie  third 
island,  giving  notice  to  the  captain  on  his  return,  and 
thereby  preventing  their  intention  of  running  away 
with  his  vessel.  But  as  tliis  third  company  vras  by 
much  the  weakest,  they  began  with  them  first,  and  cut 
them  all  oft,  except  five  women  and  seven  children,  not 
in  the  least  doubting  that  they  should  be  able  to  do  as 
much  by  Weybhays  and  his  companj-.  In  the  mean- 
time, having  broke  open  the  merchant's  chests,  which 
liad  been  saved  out  of  the  wreck,  they  converted  them 
to  their  own  use  without  ceremony. 

The  traitor,  Jeroni  Corndlis,  was  so  much  elevated 
with  the  success  that  had  hitherto  attended  his  villainy, 
that  he  immediately  began  to  fancy  all  difficulties  were 
over,  and  gave  a  loose  to  his  vicious  inclinations  in 
every  respect.  He  ordered  clothes  to  be  made  of  rich 
stuffs  that  had  been  saved,  for  himself  and  his  troop, 
and  having  chosen  out  of  them  a  company  of  guards, 
he  ordered  them  to  have  scarlet  coats,  with  a  double 
lace  of  gold  or  silver.  There  were  two  minister's 
daughters  among  the  women,  one  of  whom  he  took  for 


24  EARLY   ATJSTEALIAN   VOYAGES. 

his  own  mistress,  gave  the  second  to  a  favourite  of  his, 
and  ordered  that  the  other  three  women  should  be 
common  to  the  whole  troop.  He  afterwards  drew  up 
a  set  of  regulations,  which  were  to  be  the  laws  of  his 
new  principality,  taking  to  himself  the  style  and  title 
of  Captain- General,  and  obliging  his  party  to  sign  an 
act,  or  instrument,  by  which  they  acknowledged  him 
as  such.  These  points  once  settled,  he  resolved  to 
carry  on  the  war.  He  first  of  all  embarked  on  board 
two  shallops  twenty-two  men,  well  armed,  with  orders 
to  destroy  Mr.  Weybhays  and  his  company;  and  on 
their  miscarrying,  he  midertook  a  like  expedition  with 
thirty-seven  men,  in  which,  however,  he  had  no  better 
success;  for  Mr.  Weybhays,  with  his  people,  though 
armed  only  with  staves  with  nails  drove  into  their 
heads,  advanced  even  into  the  water  to  meet  them,  and 
after  a  brisk  engagement  compelled  these  murderers  to 
letire. 

Cornelis  then  thought  fit  to  enter  into  a  negotiation, 
which  was  managed  by  the  chaplain,  who  remained 
with  Mr.  Weybhays,  and  after  several  comings  and 
goings  from  one  party  to  the  other,  a  treaty  was  con- 
eluded  upon  the  following  terms — viz.,  Tliat  Mr, 
Weybhays  and  his  company  should  for  the  future 
remain  undisturbed,  provided  they  delivered  up  a  little 
boat,  in  which  one  of  the  sailors  had  made  his  escape 
from  the  island  in  which  Cornelis  was  with  his  gang, 
in  order  to  take  shelter  on  that  where  Weybhays  was 
with  his  company.     It  was  also  agreed  that  the  latter 


PELSARTS  VOYAGE   TO  AUSTRALASIA.  2d 

sliould  have  a  part  of  the  stuffs  and  silks  given  them 
for  clothes,  of  which  they  stood  in  great  want.  But, 
while  this  affair  was  in  agitation,  Cornells  took  the 
opportunity  of  the  correspondence  between  them  being 
restored,  to  write  letters  to  some  French  soldiers  that 
were  in  Weybhays's  company,  promising  them  six 
thousand  livres  apiece  if  they  would  comply^  with  his 
demands,  not  doubting  but  by  this  artifice  he  should 
be  able  to  accomplish  his  end. 

His  letters,  however,  had  no  effect ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  soldiers  to  whom  they  Avere  directed  carried  them 
immediately  to  Mr.  Weybhays.  Cornells,  not  knowing 
that  this  piece  of  treachery  was  discovered,  went  over 
the  next  morning,  with  three  or  four  of  his  people,  to 
carry  to  Mr.  Weybhays  the  clothes  that  had  been 
promised  him.  As  soon  as  they  landed,  Weybhays 
attacked  them,  killed  two  or  three,  and  made  Cornells 
himself  prisoner.  One  Wonterloss,  who  was  the  only 
man  that  made  his  escape,  went  immediately  back  to 
the  conspirators,  put  himself  at  their  head,  and  came 
the  next  day  to  attack  Weybhays,  but  met  with  the 
same  fate  as  before — that  is  to  say,  he  and  the  villains 
that  were  with  him  were  soundly  beat. 

Things  were  in  this  situation  when  Captain  Pelsart 
arrived  in  the  Sardarti  frigate.  He  sailed  up  to  the 
wreck,  and  saw  with  great  joy  a  cloud  of  smoke  ascend- 
ing from  one  of  the  islands,  by  which  he  knew  that  all 
his  people  were  not  dead.  He  came  immediately  to  an 
anchor,  and  having  ordered  some  wine  and  provisions 


2G  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGSS. 

to  be  put  into  the  skiff,  resolved  to  go  in  person  witli 
these  refresliments  to  one  of  these  islands.  He  had 
hardly  quitted  the  ship  before  he  was  boarded  by  a 
iDoat  from  the  island  to  which  he  was  going.  There 
were  four  men  in  the  boat,  of  whom  Weybhays  was 
one,  who  immediately  ran  to  the  captain,  told  him  what 
had  happened,  and  begged  him  to  return  to  his  ship 
immediately,  for  tliat  the  conspirators  intended  to 
surprise  her,  that  they  had  already  murdered  125 
persons,  and  that  they  liad  attacked  him  and  his 
company  that  very  morning  with  two  shallops. 

While  chey  were  talking  the  two  shallops  appeared ; 
upon  which  the  captain  rowed  to  his  ship  as  fast  as  he 
could,  and  was  hardly  got  on  board  before  they  arrived 
at  the  shix^'s  side.  The  captain  was  surprised  to  see 
men  in  red  coats  laced  with  gold  and  silver,  with  arms 
in  their  hands.  He  demanded  what  they  meant  by 
coming  on  board  armed.  They  told  him  he  should 
knoAV  when  they  were  on  board  the  ship.  The  captain 
replied  that  they  should  come  on  board,  but  that  they 
must  first  throw  their  arms  into  the  sea,  which  if  they 
did  not  do  immediately,  he  would  sink  them  as  they 
lay.  As  they  saw  that  disputes  were  to  no  purpose, 
and  that  they  were  entireh^  in  the  captain's  power, 
they  were  obliged  to  obey.  They  accordingly  threw 
their  arms  overboard,  and  were  then  taken  into  the 
vessel,  where  they  were  instantly  put  in  irons.  One 
of  them,  whose  name  was  John  Bremen,  and  wlio  was 
first  examined,  owned  that  he  had  murdered  with  his 


PELS  art's   voyage    TC   AUSTRALASIA.  27 

own  liaiids,  or  had  assisted  in  murdering,  no  less  tliau 
twenty-seven  persons.  Tlie  same  evening  Weybliays 
brought  liis  prisoner  Cornelis  on  board,  where  he  was 
put  in  irons  and  strictly  guarded. 

On  the  18tli  of  September,  Captain  Pelsart,  with  the 
master,  went  to  take  the  rest  of  the  conspirators  in 
Cornelis's  island.  They  went  in  two  boats.  The 
villains,  as  soon  as  tliey  saw  them  land,  lost  all  their 
courage,  and  fled  from  them.  They  surrendered  with- 
out a  blow,  and  were  put  in  irons  with  the  rest.  The 
captain's  first  care  was  to  recover  the  jewels  which 
Cornelis  had  dispersed  among  his  accomplices  :  they 
were,  however,  all  of  ihem  soon  found,  except  a  gold 
chain  and  a  diamond  ring ;  the  latter  was  also  found  at 
last,  but  the  former  could  not  be  recovered.  They 
went  next  to  examine  the  wreck,  which  they  found 
staved  into  an  hundred  pieces ;  the  keel  lay  on  a  bank 
of  sand  on  one  side,  the  fore  part  of  the  vessel  stuck 
fast  on  a  rock,  and  the  rest  of  her  lay  here  and  there 
as  the  pieces  had  been  driven  by  the  waves,  so  that 
Captain  Pelsart  had  very  little  hopes  of  saving  any  of 
the  merchandise.  One  of  the  people  belonging  to 
Weybhays's  company  told  him  that  one  fair  day,  which 
was  the  only  one  they  had  in  a  month,  as  he  was  fishing 
near  the  wreck,  he  liad  struck  the  pole  in  his  liand 
against  one  of  the  chests  of  silver,  which  revived  the 
captain  a  little,  as  it  gave  him  reason  to  expect  that 
something  might  still  bo  saved.  They  spent  all  the  19th 
in  examining  the  rest  of  the  prisoners,  and  in  con- 


28  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

fronting  tliem  with  those  who  escaped  from  the 
massacre. 

On  the  20th  they  sent  several  kinds  of  refreshments 
to  Weybhays's  company,  and  carried  a  good  quantity 
of  water  from  the  isle.  There  was  something  very 
singular  in  finding  this  water ;  the  people  who  were  on 
shore  there  had  subsisted  near  three  weeks  on  rain- 
water, and  what  lodged  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks, 
without  thinking  that  the  water  of  two  wells  which 
were  on  the  island  could  be  of  any  use,  because  the}' 
saw  them  constantly  rise  and  fall  with  the  tide,  from 
whence  they  fancied  they  had  a  communication  with 
the  sea,  and  consequently  that  the  water  must  be 
brackish ;  but  upon  trial  tliey  found  it  to  be  very  good, 
and  so  did  the  ship's  company,  who  filled  their  casks 
with  it. 

On  the  21st  the  tide  was  so  low,  and  an  east-south- 
east wind  blew  so  hard,  that  during  the  whole  day  the 
boat  could  not  get  out.  On  the  22nd  they  attempted  to 
fish  upon  the  wreck,  but  the  weather  was  so  bad  that 
even  those  who  could  swim  very  well  durst  not 
approach  it.  On  the  25th  the  master  and  the  pilot, 
the  weather  being  fair,  went  off  again  to  the  wreck, 
and  those  who  were  left  on  shore,  observing  that  they 
wanted  hands  to  get  anything  out  of  her,  sent  off  some 
to  assist  them.  The  captain  went  also  himself  to 
encourage  the  men,  who  soon  weighed  one  chest  of 
silver,  and  some  time  after  another.  As  soon  as  these 
were  safe  asliore  they  returned  to  their  work,  but  the 


PELSAET'S  VOY-AGE   to  AUSTRALASIA.  29 

weather  grew  so  bad  that  they  were  quickly  obliged  to 
desist,  though  some  of  their  divers  from  Guzarat 
assured  them  they  had  found  six  more,  which  might 
easily  be  weighed.  On  the  26th,  in  the  afternoon,  the 
weather  being  fair,  and  the  tide  low,  the  master  re- 
turned to  the  place  where  the  chests  lay,  and  weighed 
three  of  them,  leaving  an  anchor  with  a  gun  tied  to  it, 
and  a  buoy,  to  mark  the  place  where  the  fourth  lay, 
whicli,  notwithstanding  their  utmost  efforts,  they  were 
not  able  to  recover. 

On  the  27th  the  south  wind  blew  very  cold.  On  the 
28th  the  same  wind  blew  stronger  than  the  day  before  ; 
and  as  there  was  no  possibility  of  fishing  in  the  wreck 
for  the  present.  Captain  Pelsart  held  a  council  to  con- 
sider what  they  should  do  with  the  prisoners  :  that  is 
to  say,  whether  it  would  be  best  to  try  them  there 
upon  the  spot,  or  to  carry  them  to  Batavia,  in  order  to 
their  being  tried  by  the  Company's  officers.  After 
mature  deliberation,  reflecting  on  the  number  of 
prisoners,  and  the  temptation  that  might  arise  from 
the  vast  quantity  of  silver  on  board  the  frigate,  they 
at  last  came  to  a  resolution  to  try  and  execute  them 
there,  which  was  accordingly  done ;  and  they  embarked 
immediately  afterwards  for  Batavia. 


REMARKS. 

This  voyage  was  translated  from  the  original  Dutch 
by  Thevenot,  and  printed  ]>y  him  in  the  first  volume  of 


30  EAULY  AtJSTilALlAN   VOYAGES. 

his  collections.     Pelsart's  route  is  traced  in  the  map  of 
the  globe  pulDlisliecl  by  Delisle  in  the  year  1700. 

As  this  voyage  is  of  itseK  very  short,  I  shall  not 
detain  the  reader  with  many  remarks ;  but  shall  con- 
fine myself  to  a  very  few  observations,  in  order  to 
show  the  consequences  of  the  discovery  made  by 
Captain  Pelsart.  The  country  upon  which  he  suffered 
shii^wreck  was  New  Holland,  the  coast  of  which  had 
not  till  then  been  at  all  examined,  and  it  was  doubtful 
how  far  it  extended.  There  had  indeed  been  some 
reports  spread  with  relation  to  the  inhabitants  of  tliis 
country,  whicli  Captain  Pelsart's  relation  shows  to 
have  been  false ;  for  it  had  been  reported  that  when 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company  sent  some  ships  to 
make  discoveries,  their  landing  was  opposed  by  a  race 
of  gigantic  people,  with  whom  the  Dutch  could  by  no 
means  contend.  But  our  autlior  says  nothing  of  the 
extraordinary  size  of  the  savages  that  were  seen  by 
Captain  Pelsart's  people ;  from  whence  it  is  reasonable 
to  conclude  that  this  story  was  circulated  with  no 
other  view  than  to  prevent  other  nations  from  venturing 
into  these  seas.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  this  is  the 
very  coast  surveyed  by  Captain  Dampier,  whoso 
account  agrees  exactly  with  that  contained  in  this 
voyage.  Now  though  it  bo  true,  that  from  all  these 
accounts  there  is  nothing  said  which  is  much  to  the 
advantage  either  of  the  country  or  its  inhabitants,  yet 
we  are  to  consider  tliat  it  is  impossible  to  represent 
either  in  a  worse  light  than  that  in  which  the  Cape  of 


PELSART  S  VOYAGE   TO  AUSTEALASIA.  ol 

Good  Hope  was  placed,  before  tlie  Dutch  took  posses- 
sion of  it;  and  plainly  demonstrated  that  industry 
could  make  a  paradise  of  what  was  a  perfect  purgatory 
while  in  the  hands  of  the  Hottentots.  If,  therefore,  the 
climate  of  this  country  be  good,  and  the  soil  fruitful, 
both  of  which  were  affirmed  in  this  relation,  there 
could  not  be  a  more  proper  place  for  a  colony  than 
some  part  of  New  Holland,  or  of  the  adjacent  country 
of  Carpentaria.  I  shall  give  my  reasons  for  asserting 
this  when  I  come  to  make  my  remarks  on  a  succeeding 
voyage.  At  present  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the 
reasons  that  have  induced  the  Dutch  East  India  Com- 
pany to  leave  all  these  countries  unsettled,  after 
having  first  shown  so  strong  an  inclination  to  discover 
them,  which  will  oblige  mo  to  lay  before  the  reader 
some  secrets  in  commerce  that  have  hitherto  escaped 
common  observation,  and  which,  whenever  they  are  as 
thoroughly  considered  as  they  deserve,  will  un- 
doubtedly lead  us  to  as  great  discoveries  as  those  of 
Columbus  or  Magellan. 

In  order  to  make  myself  perfectly  understood,  I  must 
observe  that  it  was  the  finding  out  of  the  Moluccas,  or 
Spice  Islands,  by  the  Portuguese,  that  raised  that  spirit 
of  discovery  which  produced  Columbus's  voyage,  which 
ended  in  finding  America ;  though  in  fact  Columbus 
intended  rather  to  reach  this  country  of  New  Holland. 
The  assertion  is  bold,  and  at  first  sight  may  appear 
improbable ;  but  a  little  attention  will  make  it  so  plain, 
that  the  reader  must  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what 


32  EAELY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

I  say.  The  proposition  made  by  Columbus  to  the 
State  of  Genoa,  the  Kings  of  Portugal,  Spain,  England, 
and  France,  was  this,  that  he  could  discover  a  new 
route  to  the  East  Indies ;  that  is  to  say,  without  going 
round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  He  grounded  this 
proposition  on  the  spherical  figure  of  the  earth,  from 
whence  he  thought  it  self-evident  that  any  given  point 
might  be  sailed  to  through  the  great  ocean,  either  by 
steering  east  or  west.  In  his  attempt  to  go  to  the 
East  Indies  by  a  west  course,  he  met  with  the  islands 
and  continent  of  America  ;  and  finding  gold  and  other 
commodities,  which  till  then  had  never  been  brought 
from  the  Indies,  he  really  thought  that  this  was  the 
west  coast  of  that  country  to  which  the  Portuguese 
sailed  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  hence  came  the 
name  of  the  West  Indies.  Magellan,  who  followed 
his  steps,  and  was  the  only  discoverer  who  reasoned 
systematically,  and  knew  what  he  was  doing,  proposed 
to  the  Emperor  Charles  Y.  to  complete  what  Columbus 
had  begun,  and  to  find  a  passage  to  the  Moluccas  by 
the  west ;  which,  to  his  immortal  honour,  he  accom- 
plished. 

When  the  Dutch  made  their  first  voyages  to  the 
East  Indies,  which  was  not  many  years  before  Captain 
Pelsart's  shipwreck  on  the  coast  of  IN'ew  Holland,  for 
their  first  fleet  arrived  in  the  East  Indies  in  1596,  and 
Pelsart  lost  his  ship  in  1629 — I  say,  when  the  Dutch 
first  undertook  the  East  India  trade,  they  had  the 
Spice  Islands  in  view :  and  as  they  are  a  nation  justly 


PELSAPvT'S   YOYAGE    to   AUSTRALASIA.  33 

famous  for  the  steady  pursuit  of  whatever  tliey  take  in 
hand,  it  is  notorious  that  they  never  lost  sight  of  their 
design  till  the}--  had  accomplished  it,  and  made  them- 
selves entirely  masters  of  these  islands,  of  which  they 
still  continue  in  possession.  When  this  was  done,  and 
they  had  effectually  driven  out  the  English,  who  were 
likewise  settled  in  them,  they  fixed  tlio  seat  of  their 
government  in  the  island  of  Amhoyna,  which  lay  very 
convenient  for  the  discoA'^ery  of  the  southern  countries ; 
which,  therefore,  they  prosecuted  with  great  diligence 
from  the  year  1619  to  the  time  of  Captain  Pelsart's 
shipwreck  ;  that  is,  for  the  space  of  twenty  years. 

But  after  they  removed  the  seat  of  their  government 
from  Amboyna  to  Batavia,  they  turned  their  vicAvs 
another  way,  and  never  made  any  voyage  expressly 
for  discoveries  on  that  side,  except  the  single  one  of 
Captain  Tasman,  of  which  we  are  to  speak  presently. 
It  was  from  this  period  of  time  that  they  began  to  take 
new  measures,  and  having  made  their  excellent  settle- 
ment at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  resolved  to  govern 
their  trade  to  the  East  Indies  by  these  two  capital 
maxims  :  1.  To  extend  their  trade  all  over  the  Indies, 
and  to  fix  themselves  so  effectually  in  the  richest 
countries  as  to  keep  all,  or  at  least  the  best  and  most 
profitable  part  of,  their  commerce  to  themselves ;  2.  To 
make  the  Moluccas,  and  the  islands  dependent  on  them, 
their  frontier,  and  to  omit  nothing  that  should  appear 
necessary  to  prevent  strangers,  or  even  Dutch  ships 
not  belonging  to  the  Company,  from  ever  navigating 
B-43 


34  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

those  seas,  and  consequently  from  ever  being  acquainted 
witL.  the  countries  that  lie  in  them.  How  well  they 
have  prosecuted  the  first  maxim  has  been  very  largely 
shown  in  a  foregoing  article,  wherein  we  have  an 
ample  description  of  the  mighty  empire  in  the  hands 
of  their  East  India  Company.  As  for  the  second 
maxim,  the  reader,  in  the  ]Derusal  of  Funnel's,  Dam- 
pier's,  and  other  voyages,  but  especially  the  first,  must 
be  satisfied  that  it  is  what  they  have  constantly  at  heart, 
and  which,  at  all  events,  they  are  determined  to  pursue, 
at  least  with  regard  to  strangers ;  and  as  to  their  own 
countrymen,  the  usage  they  gave  to  James  le  Maire 
and  his  people  is  a  proof  that  cannot  be  contested. 

Those  things  being  considered,  it  is  very  plain  that  the 
Dutch,  or  rather  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  are 
fully  persuaded  that  they  have  already  as  much  or  more 
territory  in  the  East  Indies  than  they  can  well  manage, 
and  therefore  they  neither  do  nor  ever  will  think  of 
settling  New  Guinea,  Carpentaria,  New  Holland,  or 
any  of  the  adjacent  islands,  till  either  their  trade  de- 
clines in  the  East  Indies,  or  they  are  obliged  to  exert 
themselves  on  this  side  to  prevent  other  nations  from 
reaping  the  benefits  that  might  accrue  to  them  by  their 
planting  those  countries.  But  this  is  not  all ;  for  as 
the  Dutch  have  no  thoughts  of  settling  these  countries 
themselves,  they  have  taken  all  imaginable  pains  to 
prevent  any  relations  from  being  published  which 
might  invite  or  encourage  any  other  nation  to  make 
attempts  this   way ;  and  I  am  thoroughly  persuaded 


PELSAET  S  VOYAGE   TO  AUSTRALASIA.  oo 

that  this  very  account  of  Captain  Pelsart's  shipwreck 
would  never  have  come  into  the  world  if  it  had  not 
been  thought  it  would  contribute  to  this  end,  or,  in 
other  words,  would  serve  to  frighten  other  nations  from 
approaching  such  an  inliospitable  coast,  everywhere 
beset  with  rocks  absolutely  void  of  water,  and  in- 
habited by  a  race  of  savages  more  barbarous,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  more  miserable  tlian  any  other  creatures 
in  the  world. 

The  author  of  this  voyage  remarks,  for  the  use  of 
seamen,  that  in  the  little  island  occupied  by  Weybhays, 
after  digging  two  pits,  they  were  for  a  considerable 
time  afraid  to  use  the  water,  having  found  that  these 
pits  ebbed  and  flowed  with  the  sea ;  but  necessity  at 
last  constraining  them  to  drink  it,  tliey  found  it  did 
them  no  hurt.  The  reason  of  the  ebbirg  aud  flowing 
of  these  pits  was  their  nearness  to  the  sea,  the  water  of 
which  percolated  through  the  sand,  lost  its  saltness, 
and  so  became  potable,  though  it  followed  the  motions 
of  the  ocean  whence  it  came. 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  CAPTAIN  ABEL  JAK- 
SEN  TASMAN  FOR  THE  DISCOVERY 
OF   SOUTHERN   COUNTRIES. 

1642—43. 

By  direction  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company.     \Talien 
from  his  original  Journal.'] 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   OCCASION   AND   DESIGN   OF   THIS   VOYAGE. 

The  great  discoveries  that  were  made  by  the  Dutch  in 
these  southern  countries  wore  subsequent  to  the  famous 
voyage  of  Jaques  le  Maire,  who  in  1616  passed  the 
straits  called  by  his  name  ;  in  1618,  that  part  of  Terra 
Australis  was  discovered  which  the  Dutch  called  Con- 
cordia. The  next  year,  the  Land  of  Edels  was  found, 
and  received  its  name  from  its  discoverer.  In  1620, 
Batavia  was  built  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  city  of 
Jacatra ;  but  the  seat  of  government  was  not  immedi- 
ately removed  from  Amboyna.  In  1622,  that  part  of 
New  Holland  which  is  called  Lewin's  Land  was  first 
found ;  and  in  1627,  Peter  Nuyts  discovered  between 
New  Holland  and  New  Guinea  a  country  which  bears 
his  name.  There  were  also  some  other  voyages  made, 
of  which,  however,  wo  have  no  sort  of  account,  except 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  37 

?liat  the  Dutch  were  continually  beaten  in  all  their  at- 
tempts to  land  upon  this  coast.  On  their  settlement, 
however,  at  Batavia,  the  then  general  and  council  of 
the  Indies  thouglit  it  requisite  to  have  a  more  perfect 
survey  made  of  the  new-found  countries,  that  the  memory 
of  them  at  least  might  be  preserved,  in  case  no  further 
attempts  were  made  to  settle  them  ;  and  it  Avas  very 
probably  a  foresiglit  of  few  ships  going-  tliat  route  any 
more,  which  induced  such  as  had  then  the  direction  of 
the  Company's  affairs  to  wish  that  some  such  survey 
and  description  miglit  be  made  by  an  able  seaman,  who 
was  well  acquainted  with  those  coasts,  and  who  might 
be  able  to  add  to  the  discoveries  already  made,  as  well 
as  furnish  a  more  accurate  description,  even  of  them, 
than  had  been  hitherto  given. 

This  was  faithfully  performed  by  Captain  Tasman  ; 
and  from  the  lights  afforded  by  his  journal,  a  very 
exact  and  curious  map  was  made  of  all  these  new  coun- 
tries. But  his  voyage  was  never  published  entire;  and 
it  is  very  probable  that  the  East  India  Company  never 
intended  it  should  be  published  at  all.  However,  Dirk 
Rembrantz,  moved  by  tlie  excellency  and  accuracy  of 
the  work,  publislicd  in  Low  Dutch  an  extract  of  Captain 
Tasman's  Journal,  which  has  been  ever  since  considered 
as  a  very  great  curiosity;  and,  as  such,  has  been 
translated  into  many  languages,  particularly  into  our 
own,  by  the  care  of  the  learned  Professor  of  Gresham 
College,  Doctor  Hook,  an  abridgment  of  wliicli  trans- 
lation found  a  place  in  Doctor  Harris's  Collection  of 


38  EAELY  AtrSTEALIAN  VOYAGES. 

YoyPiges.  But  we  have  made  no  use  of  either  of  these 
pieces,  the  following  being  a  new  translation,  made 
with  all  the  care  and  diligence  that  is  possible. 


CHAPTER   II. 

CAPTAIN   TASMAN  SAILS  FROM   BATAVIA,  AUGUST  14, 

1642. 

On  August  14,  1642,  I  sailed  from  Batavia  with  two 
vessels;  the  one  called  the  HeemsJcirTc,  and  the  other 
the  Zee-Raan.  On  September  5  I  anchored  at  Maurice 
Island,  in  the  latitude  of  20°  south,  and  in  the  longi- 
tude of  83°  48'.  I  found  this  island  fifty  German 
miles  more  to  the  east  than  I  expected ;  that  is  to  say, 
3°  33'  of  longitude.  This  island  was  so  called  from 
Prince  Mam-ice,  being  before  known  by  the  name  of 
Cerne.  It  is  about  fifteen  leagues  in  circumference, 
and  has  a  very  fine  harbour,  at  the  entrance  of  which 
there  is  one  hundred  fathoms  water.  The  country  is 
moimtainous ;  but  the  mountains  are  covered  with 
green  trees.  The  tops  of  these  mountains  are  so  high 
that  they  are  lost  in  the  clouds,  and  are  frequently 
covered  by  thick  exhalations  or  smoke  that  ascends 
from  them.  The  air  of  this  island  is  extremely  whole- 
some. It  is  well  furnished  with  flesli  and  fowl ;  and 
the  sea  on  its  coasts  abounds  with  all  sorts  of  fish. 
The  fijiest  ebony  in  the  world  grows  here.    It  is  a  tall, 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  39 

straight  tree  of  a  moderate  thickness,  covered  with  a 
green  bark,  very  thick,  under  which  the  wood  is  as 
black  as  pitch,  and  as  close  as  ivory.  There  are  other 
trees  on  the  island,  which  are  of  a  bright  red,  and  a 
third  sort  as  yellow  as  wax.  The  ships  belonging  to 
the  East  India  Company  commonly  touch  at  this  island 
for  refreshments  on  their  passage  to  Batavia. 

I  left  this  island  on  the  8th  of  October,  and  con- 
tinued my  course  to  the  south  to  the  latitude  of  40°  or 
41°,  having  a  strong  nortli-west  wind ;  and  finding  the 
needle  vary  23,  24,  and  25°  to  the  22nd  of  October,  I 
sailed  from  that  time  to  the  29th  to  the  east,  inclining 
a  little  to  the  south,  till  I  arrived  in  the  latitude  of  45*^ 
47'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  89°  44';  and  then 
observed  the  variation  of  the  needle  to  be  26°  45'  to- 
wards the  west. 

As  our  author  was  extremely  careful  in  this  par- 
ticular, and  observed  the  variation  of  the  needle  with 
the  utmost  diligence,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  take  this 
opT)ortunity  of  explaining  this  point,  so  that  the  im- 
portance of  his  remarks  may  sufficiently  appear.  The 
needle  points  exactly  north  only  in  a  few  places,  and 
perhaps  not  constantly  in  them  ;  but  in  most  it  decliues 
a  little  to  the  east,  or  to  the  west,  whence  arises 
eastern  and  western  declination :  when  this  was  first 
observed,  it  was  attribiited  to  certain  excavations  or 
hollows  in  the  earth,  to  veins  of  lead,  stone,  and  other 
such-like  causes.  But  when  it  was  found  by  repeated 
experiments   that   this    variation   vavicJ,    it   appeared 


4-0        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

plainly  tliat  none  of  those  causes  could  take  place ; 
since  if  tliey  had,  the  variation  in  the  same  place  must 
always  have  been  the  same,  whereas  the  fact  is  other- 
wise. 

Here  at  London,  for  instance,  in  the  year  1580,  the 
variation  was  observed  to  be  11°  17'  to  the  east ;  in  the 
year  1666,  the  variation  was  here  34'  to  the  west ;  and 
in  the  year  1734,  the  variation  was  somewhat  more  than 
1°  west.  In  order  to  find  the  variation  of  the  needle 
Avith  the  least  error  possible,  the  seamen  take  this 
method :  they  observe  the  point  the  sun  is  in  by  the 
compass,  any  time  after  its  rising,  and  then  take  the 
altitude  of  the  sun ;  and  in  the  afternoon  they  observe 
when  the  sun  comes  to  the  same  altitude,  and  observe 
tlie  point  the  sun  is  then  in  by  the  compass ;  for 
the  middle,  between  these  two,  is  the  true  north  or 
south  point  of  the  compass ;  and  the  difference  be- 
tween that  and  the  north  or  south  upon  the  card, 
which  is  pointed  out  by  the  needle,  is  the  variation  of 
tlie  compass,  and  shows  how  much  the  north  and  south, 
given  by  the  compass,  deviates  from  the  true  north  and 
south  points  of  the  horizon.  It  appears  clearly,  from 
what  has  been  said,  that  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  certain 
knowledge  of  the  variation,  and  of  the  variation  of  that 
variation  of  the  compass,  it  is  absolutely  requisite  to 
have  from  time  to  time  distinct  accounts  of  the  variation 
as  it  is  observed  in  different  places  :  whence  the  im- 
portance of  Captain  Tasman's  remarks,  in  this  respect, 
suificiently  appears.     It  is  true  that  the  learned  and 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  41 

ingenious  Dr.  Halley  lias  given  a  very  probable  account 
of  this  matter ;  but  as  the  probability  of  that  account 
arises  only  from  its  agreement  with  observations,  it 
follows  those  are  as  necessary  and  as  important  as  ever, 
in  order  to  strengthen  and  confirm  it. 


CHAPTER  III. 

REMARKS   ON   THE   VARIATION   OF   THE   NEEDLE. 

On  the  Sih.  of  November,  I  was  in  49°  4"  south  latitude, 
and  in  the  longitude  of  114°  56';  the  variation  was 
at  this  time  26°  westward;  and,  as  the  weather  was 
foggy,  with  hard  gales,  and  a  rolling  sea  from  the 
south-west  and  from  the  south,  I  concluded  from  thence 
that  it  was  not  at  all  probable  there  should  be  any  land 
between  those  two  points.  On  November  15tli  I  was  in 
the  latitude  of  44°  33'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of 
140°  32'.  The  variation  was  then  18°  30'  west,  which 
variation  decreased  every  day,  in  such  a  manner,  that, 
on  the  21st  of  the  same  month,  being  in  the  longitude 
of  158°,  I  observed  the  variation  to  be  no  more  than  4°. 
On  the  22nd  of  that  month,  the  needle  was  in  continual 
agitation,  without  resting  in  any  of  the  eight  points ; 
which  led  me  to  conjecture  that  we  were  near  some 
mine  of  loadstone. 

This  may,  at  first  sight,  seem   to   contradict   what 
has  been  before  laid  down,  as  to  the  variation,  and  the 


'42         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

causes  of  it :  but,  when  strictly  considered,  tliey  will 
be  found  to  agree  very  well ;  for  when  it  is  asserted 
that  veins  of  loadstone  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
variation  of  the  compass,  it  is  to  be  understood  of  the 
constant  variation  of  a  few  degrees  to  the  east,  or  to 
the  Avest :  but  in  cases  of  this  nature,  Avliere  the  vari- 
ation is  absolutely  irregular,  and  the  needle  plays 
quite  round  the  compass,  our  author's  conjecture  may 
very  well  find  place  :  yet  it  must  be  owned  that  it  is  a 
point  far  enough  from  being  clear,  that  mines  of  load- 
stone affect  the  compass  at  a  distance ;  which,  however, 
might  be  very  easily  determined,  since  there  are  large 
mines  of  loadstone  in  the  island  of  Elba,  on  the  coast 
of  Tuscany, 


CHAPTER   IV. 

HE    DISCOVERS   A   NEW   COUNTRY   TO    WHICH   HE 
GIVES  THE   NAME    OF  VAN   DIEMEN's   LAND. 

On  the  24th  of  the  same  month,  being  in  the  latitude  of 
42^  25'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  163°  50',  I  dis- 
covered land,  which  lay  east-south-east  at  the  distance 
of  ten  miles,  which  I  called  Yan  Diemen's  Land.  The 
comi^ass  pointed  right  toAvards  this  land.  The  weather 
being  bad,  I  steered  south  and  by  east  along  the  coast, 
to  the  height  of  44°  south,  where  the  land  runs  away 
east,  and  afterwards  north-east  and  by  north.  In  the 
latitude  of  43°    10'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  167^ 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  43 

55',  I  aneliored  on  the  1st  of  December,  in  a  bay,  which 
I  called  the  Bay  of  Frederic  Henry.  I  heard,  or  at 
least  fancied  I  heard,  the  sound  of  people  upon  the 
shore ;  but  I  saAV  nobody.  All  I  met  with  worth  ob- 
serving was  two  trees,  Avhich  were  two  fathoms  or  two 
fathoms  and  a  half  in  girth,  and  sixty  or  sixty-five 
feet  high  from  the  root  to  the  branches :  they  had 
cut  with  a  flint  a  kind  of  steps  in  the  bark,  in  order 
to  climb  up  to  the  birds'  nests  ;  these  steps  were  the 
distance  of  five  feet  from  each  other;  so  that  we 
must  conclude  that  either  these  people  are  of  a  prodi- 
gious size,  or  that  they  have  some  way  of  climbing 
trees  that  wc  are  not  used  to  ;  in  one  of  the  trees  the 
steps  were  so  fresh,  that  we  judged  they  could  not  have 
been  cut  above  four  days. 

The  noise  wo  heard  resembled  the  noise  of  some  sort 
of  trumpet ;  it  seemed  to  be  at  no  great  distance,  but 
we  saw  no  living  creature  notwithstanding.  I  per- 
ceived also  in  the  sand  the  marks  of  wild  beasts'  feet, 
resembling  those  of  a  tiger,  or  some  sucli  creature  ;  I 
gathered  also  some  gum  from  the  trees,  and  likewise 
some  lack.  The  tide  ebbs  and  flows  there  about  three 
feet.  The  trees  in  this  country  do  not  grow  very  close, 
nor  are  they  encumbered  witli  bushes  or  underwood. 
I  observed  smoke  in  several  places ;  however,  we  did 
nothing  more  than  set  up  a  post,  on  which  every  one 
cut  his  name,  or  his  mark,  and  upon  which  I  hoisted  a 
flag.  I  observed  that  in  this  place  the  variation  was 
clianged  to  3°    eastward.     On   December  5th,   being 


44  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

then,  by  observation,  in  tlie  latitude  of  41°  34',  and  in 
the  longitude  169°,  I  quitted  Yan  Diemen's  Land, 
and  resoh'cd  to  steer  east  to  the  longitude  of  195°, 
in  hopes  of  discovering  the  Islands  of  Solomon. 


CHAPTER   Y. 

SAILS   FROM   THENCE    FOR    NEW   ZEALAND. 

On  September  9th  I  was  in  the  latitude  of  42°  37' 
south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  176°  29' ;  the  variation 
being  there  5°  to  the  east.  On  the  12th  of  the  same 
month,  finding  a  great  rolling  sea  coming  in  on  the 
soutli-west,  I  judged  there  was  no  land  to  be  hoped 
for  on  that  point.  On  the  13th,  being  in  the  latitude 
of  42°  10'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  188°  28',  I 
found  the  variation  7°  30'  eastward.  In  this  situation 
I  discovered  a  high  mountainous  country,  which  is  at 
present  marked  in  the  charts  under  the  name  of  New 
Zealand.  I  coasted  along  the  shore  of  this  country  to 
tlie  nortli-north-east  till  the  18th  ;  and  being  then  in 
the  latitude  of  40°  50'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of 
191°  41',  I  anchored  in  a  fine  bay,  where  I  observed 
the  variation  to  be  9°  towards  the  east. 

We  found  here  abundance  of  the  inhalutants  :  they 
had  very  hoarse  voices,  and  were  very  large-made 
people.  They  durst  not  approach  the  sliip  nearer  than 
a  stone's  throw ;  and  we  often  observed  them  playing 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  45 

on  a  kind  of  trumpet,  to  which  wo  answered  with  the 
instruments  that  wore  on  board  our  vessel.  These 
people  were  of  a  colour  between  brown  and  yellow, 
their  hair  long,  and  almost  as  thick  as  that  of  the 
Japanese,  combed  up,  and  fixed  on  the  top  of  their 
heads  with  a  quill,  or  some  such  thing,  that  was 
thickest  in  the  middle,  in  the  very  same  manner  that 
Japanese  fastened  their  hair  behind  their  heads. 
These  people  cover  the  middle  of  their  bodies,  some 
with  a  kind  of  mat,  others  with  a  sort  of  woollen 
cloth,  but,  as  for  their  upx3er  and  lower  parts,  they 
leave  them  altogether  naked. 

On  the  19tli  of  December,  those  savages  began  to 
grow  a  little  bolder,  and  more  familiar,  insomuch  that 
at  last  they  ventured  on  board  the  Hecmshirh  in  order 
to  trade  with  those  in  the  vessel.  As  soon  as  I  perceived 
it,  being  apprehensive  that  they  might  attempt  to 
surprise  that  ship,  I  sent  my  shallop,  with  seven  men, 
to  put  the  people  in  the  HeemsJdrh  upon  their  guard, 
and  to  direct  them  not  to  place  any  confidence  in 
those  people.  My  seven  men,  being  without  arms, 
were  attacked  by  these  savages,  wiio  killed  three  of 
the  seven,  and  forced  ihe  other  four  to  swim  for  their 
lives,  which  occasioned  my  giving  that  place  the 
name  of  the  Bay  of  Murderers.  Our  ship's  comjjany 
would,  undoubtedly,  have  taken  a  severe  revenge,  if 
the  rough  weather  had  not  hindered  them.  From  this 
bay  we  bore  away  east,  having  the  land  in  a  manner  all 
round  us,    This  country  appeared  to  us  rich,  fertile^ 


46  EAELY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

and  very  "vvell  situated,  but  as  the  weather  was  very 
foul,  and  we  had  at  this  time  a  very  strong  west  wind, 
we  found  it  very  difficult  to  get  clear  of  the  land. 


CHAPTEH  VI. 

VISITS  THE  ISLAND  OF  THE  THREE  KINGS,  AND 
GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  OTHER  ISLANDS  DIS- 
COVERED  BY   SCHOVTEN. 

On  tlio  24th  of  December,  as  the  wind  would  not 
permit  us  to  continue  our  way  to  the  north,  as  we 
knew  not  whether  we  should  be  able  to  find  a  passage 
on  that  side,  and  as  the  flood  came  in  from  the  south- 
east, we  concluded  that  it  would  be  the  best  to  return 
into  tlie  bay,  and  soek  some  other  way  out,  but  on  the 
26th,  the  wind  becoming  more  favourable,  we  con- 
tinued our  route  to  the  north,  turning  a  little  to 
the  west.  On  the  4th  of  January,  1643,  being  then  in 
the  latitude  of  34'^  35'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of 
191"  9',  we  sailed  quite  to  the  cape,  which  lies  north- 
west, where  we  found  the  sea  rolling  in  from  the 
north-east,  whence  we  concluded  that  we  had  at  last 
found  a  passage,  which  gave  us  no  small  joy.  There 
was  in  this  strait  an  island,  which  we  called  the 
island  of  the  Three  Kings;  the  cape  of  which  we 
doubled,  with  a  design  to  have  refreshed  ourselves ; 
but,  as  we  approached  it,  we  perceived  on  ihe  mountain 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  47 

thirty  or  five-aud-tliirty  persons,  who,  as  far  as  we 
could  discern  at  such  a  distance,  were  men  of  very 
large  size,  and  had  each  of  them  a  large  club  in  his 
hand :  they  called  out  to  us  in  a  rough  strong 
voice,  but  we  could  not  understand  anything  of 
what  they  said.  We  observed  that  these  people 
walked  at  a  very  great  rate,  and  that  they  took 
prodigious  large  strides.  We  made  the  tour  of  the 
island,  in  doing  which  we  saw  but  very  few  in- 
habitants ;  nor  did  any  of  the  country  seem  to  be 
cultivated ;  we  found,  indeed,  a  fresh-water  river, 
and  then  we  resolved  to  sail  east,  as  far  as  220°  of 
longitude ;  and  from  thence  north,  as  far  as  the 
latitude  of  17°  south ;  and  thence  to  the  west,  till  wo 
arrived  at  the  isles  of  Cocos  and  Home,  which  were 
discovered  by  William  Schovten,  where  we  intended  to 
refresh  ourselves,  in  case  we  found  no  opportunity  of 
doing  it  before,  for  though  we  had  actually  landed  on 
Van  Diemen's  Land,  we  met  with  nothing  there ;  and, 
as  for  New  Zealand,  we  never  set  foot  on  it. 

In  order  to  render  this  passage  perfectly  intelligible 
it  is  necessary  to  observe  that  the  island  of  Cocos  lies 
in  the  latitude  of  15°  10'  south  ;  and,  according  to 
SchoA^ten's  account,  is  well  inhabited,  and  well  culti- 
vated, abounding  with  all  sorts  of  refreshments ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  he  describes  the  people  as  treacherou;5 
and  base  to  the  last  degree.  As  for  the  islands  of 
Home,  they  lie  nearly  in  the  latitude  of  15*^,  are 
extremely  fruitful,  and  inhabited  by  people  of  a  kind 


48  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES, 

and  gentle  disposition,  who  readily  bestowed  on  the 
Hollanders  whatever  refreshments  they  could  ask.  It 
was  no  wonder,  therefore,  that,  finding  themselves  thus 
distressed.  Captain  Tasman  thought  of  repairing  to 
these  islands,  where  he  was  sure  of  obtaining  refresh- 
ments, either  by  fair  means  or  otherwise,  which  design, 
however,  he  did  not  think  fit  to  put  in  execution. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

REMAREABLE   OCCURRENCES   IN   THE   VOYAGE. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  being  in  the  latitude  of  30^ 
25'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  192°  20',  we 
observed  the  variation  of  the  needle  to  be  9°  towards 
the  east,  and  as  we  had  a  high  rolling  sea  from  the 
south-west,  I  conjectured  there  could  not  be  any  land 
lioped  for  on  that  side.  On  the  12th  we  found  our- 
selves in  30^  5'  soutli  latitude,  and  in  195°  27'  of 
longitude,  where  we  found  the  variation  9°  30'  to  the 
east,  a  rolling  sea  from  the  south-east  and  from  the 
south-west.  It  is  very  plain,  from  these  observations, 
that  the  position  laid  down  by  Dr.  Halley,  that  the 
motion  of  the  needle  is  not  governed  by  the  poles  of 
the  vrorld,  but  by  other  poles,  which  move  round  them, 
is  highly  probable,  for  otherwise  it  is  not  easy  to 
understand  how  the  needle  came  to  have,  as  our 
author  affirms  it  had,  a  variation  of  near  27°   to  the 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  49 

west,  in  tlio  latitude  of  45°  47',  aud  theu  gradually 
decreasing  till  it  had  no  variation  at  all ;  after  which 
it  turned  east,  in  the  latitude  of  42°  37',  and  so 
continued  increasing  its  variation  eastwardly  to  this 
time. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

observations  on,  and  explanation  of,  the 
variation  of  the  compass. 

On  the  16th  we  were  in  the  latitude  of  26°  29'  south, 
and  in  the  longitude  of  199°  32',  the  variation  of  the 
needle  being  8".  Here  we  are  to  observe  that  the 
eastern  variation  decreases,  which  is  likewise  very 
agreeable  to  Doctor  Halley's  hypothesis  ;  which,  in 
few  words,  is  this  :  that  a  certain  large  solid  body 
contained  within,  and  every  way  separated  from  the 
earth  (as  having  its  own  proper  motion),  and  Ijcing* 
included  like  a  kernel  in  its  shell,  revolves  circularly 
from  east  to  west,  as  the  exterior  earth  revolves  the 
contrary  way  in  the  diurnal  motion,  whence  it  is  easy 
to  explain  the  position  of  the  four  magnetical  poles 
whi2h  he  attributes  to  the  earth,  by  allowing  two  to 
the  nucleus,  and  two  to  the  exterior  earth.  And,  as 
the  two  former  perpetually  alter  the  situation  by  their 
circular  motion,  their  virtue,  compared  with  the 
exterior  poles,  must  be  different  at  different  times, 
and  consequently  the  variation  of  the  needle  will  per- 


50  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

petually  change.  Tlie  doctor  attributes  to  the  nucleus 
au  European  north  pole  and  an  American  south  one, 
on  account  of  the  variation  of  variations  observed  near 
these  places,  as  being  much  greater  than  those  found 
near  the  two  other  poles.  And  he  conjectures  that 
these  poles  will  finish  their  revolution  in  about  seven 
hundred  years,  and  after  that  time  the  same  situation 
of  the  poles  obtain  again  as  at  present,  and,  conse- 
quently, the  variations  will  be  the  same  again  over  all 
the  globe  ;  so  that  it  requires  several  ages  before  this 
theory  can  he  thoroughly  adjusted.  He  assigns  this 
probable  cause  of  the  circular  revolution  of  the 
nucleus  that  the  diurnal  motion,  being  impressed 
from  without,  was  not  so  exactly  communicated  to 
the  internal  parts  as  to  give  them  the  same  precise 
velocity  of  rotation  as  the  external,  whence  the 
nucleus,  being  left  behind  by  the  exterior  earth,  seems 
to  move  slowly  in  a  contrary  direction,  as  from  east  to 
west,  with  regard  to  the  external  earth,  considered  as 
at  rest  in  respect  of  the  other.  But  to  return  to  our 
voyage. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

DISCOVERS   A   NEW   ISLAND,   WHICH    HE    CALLS 
PYLSTAART   ISLAND. 

On   the   19tli   of   January,  being   in   the  latitude  of 
22^   35'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  204°   15',  we 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  51 

had  7°  30'  east  variation.  In  this  situation  we  dis- 
covered an  island  about  two  or  three  miles  in  circum- 
ference, which  was,  as  far  as  we  could  discern,  very 
high,  steep,  and  barren.  We  were  very  desirous  of 
coming  nearer  it,  but  were  hindered  by  south-east  and 
south-south-east  winds.  We  called  it  the  Isle  of  Pyl- 
staart,  because  of  tlie  great  number  of  that  sort  of 
birds  we  saw  flying  about  it,  and  tlie  next  day  we  saw 
two  other  islands. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AND  TWO  ISLANDS,  TO  WHICH   HE   GIVES  THE    NAME 
OF   AMSTERDAM    AND   ROTTERDAM. 

On  the  21st,  being  in  the  latitude  of  21°  20'  south, 
and  in  the  longitude  of  205*^  29',  we  found  our  variation 
7°  to  the  north-east.  We  drew  near  to  the  coast  of 
the  most  northern  island,  whieli,  though  not  very  higli, 
yet  was  the  larger  of  the  two  :  we  called  one  of  these 
islands  Amsterdam,  and  the  other  Rotterdam.  Upon 
that  of  Rotterdam  we  found  great  plenty  of  hogs, 
fowls,  and  all  sorts  of  fruits,  and  other  refreshments. 
These  islanders  did  not  seem  to  have  the  use  of  arms, 
inasmuch  as  we  saw  nothing  like  them  in  any  of  their 
hands  while  we  were  upon  the  island ;  tlie  usage  they 
gave  us  was  fair  and  friendly,  except  that  they  would 
steal  a  little.  The  current  is  not  very  considerable 
in  this  place,  where  it  ebbs  north-east,  and  Hows  south- 


62         EAELY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

west.  A  soutli-west  moon  causes  a  sjoring-tidc,  which 
rises  seven  or  eight  feet  at  least.  The  wind  blows 
there  contimially  south-east,  or  south-south-east,  which 
occasioned  the  Heemskirlc' s  being  carried  out  of  the 
road,  but,  however,  without  any  damage.  We  did  not 
fill  any  water  here  because  it  was  extremely  hard  to 
get  it  to  the  ship. 

On  the  25th  we  were  in  the  latitude  20-  15'  south, 
and  in  the  longitude  of  206^  19'.  The  variation 
here  was  6°  20'  to  the  east;  and,  after  having  had 
sight  of  several  other  islands,  we  made  that  of  Rotter- 
dam :  the  islanders  here  resemble  those  on  the  island 
of  Amsterdam.  The  people  were  very  good-natured, 
jiarted  readily  with  what  they  had,  did  not  seem  to  bo 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  arms,  but  were  given  to 
thieving  like  the  natives  of  Amsterdam  Island.  Here 
we  took  in  water,  and  other  refreshments,  with  all  the 
conveniency  imaginable.  We  made  the  whole  circuit 
of  the  island,  which  we  found  well-stocked  with 
cocoa-trees,  very  regularly  planted;  we  likewise  saw 
abundance  of  gardens,  extremely  well  laid  out, 
j)lentifully  stocked  with  all  kinds  of  fruit-trees,  all 
planted  in  straight  lines,  and  the  whole  kept  in  such 
excellent  order,  that  nothing  could  have  a  better  effect 
upon  the  eye.  After  quitting  the  island  of  Rotterdam, 
we  had  sight  of  several  other  islands  ;  which,  however, 
did  not  engage  us  to  alter  the  resolution  we  had  taken 
of  sailing  north,  to  the  height  of  17°  south  latitude, 
and  from  thence  to  shape  a  west  course,  without  going 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  53 

near  either  Traitor's  Island,  or  those  of  Home,  wo 
having  then  a  very  brisk  wind  from  the  south-east,  or 
east-south-east. 

I  cannot  help  remarking  upon  this  part  of  Captain 
Tasman's  journal,  that  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive, 
unless  he  was  bound  up  by  his  instructions,  why  he 
did  not  remain  some  time  either  at  Rotterdam  or  at 
Amsterdam  Island,  but  especially  at  the  former  ;  since, 
perhaps,  there  is  not  a  place  in  the  world  so  happily 
seated,  for  making  new  discoveries  with  ease  and 
safety.  He  owns  that  he  traversed  the  whole  island, 
that  he  found  it  a  perfect  paradise,  and  that  the 
people  gave  him  not  the  least  cause  of  being  diffident 
in  point  of  security ;  so  that  if  his  men  had  thrown  up 
ever  so  slight  a  fortification,  a  part  of  them  might  have 
remained  there  in  safety,  while  the  rest  had  attempted 
the  discovery  of  the  Islands  of  Solomon  on  the  one 
hand,  or  the  continent  of  De  Quiros  on  the  other, 
from  neither  of  which  they  were  at  any  great  distance, 
and,  from  his  neglecting  tins  opportunity,  I  take  it  for 
granted  that  he  was  circumscribed,  both  as  to  his 
course  and  to  the  time  he  was  to  employ  in  these  dis- 
coveries, by  his  instructions,  for  otherwise  so  able  a 
seaman  and  so  curious  a  man  as  his  journal  shows  him 
to  have  been,  would  not  certainly  have  neglected  so 
fair  an  opportunity. 


54  EARLY  ATJSTEALIAN  VOYAGES. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

AND   AN   ARCHIPELAGO   OF   TWENTY   SMALL 
ISLANDS. 

On  February  6th,  being  iu  17*^  19'  of  south  latitude, 
and  in  the  longitude  of  201''  35',  we  found  ourselves 
cmbarrassetl  by  nineteen  or  twenty  small  islands,  every 
one  of  which  was  surrounded  Avitli  sands,  shoals,  and 
rocks.  These  are  marked  in  the  charts  by  the  name 
of  Prince  William's  Islands,  or  Heemskirk's  Shallows. 
On  the  8th  we  were  in  the  latitude  of  15*^  29',  and  in 
the  longitude  of  199^  31'.  We  had  abundance  of  rain, 
a  strong  wind  from  the  north-east,  or  the  north-north- 
east, with  dark  cold  weather.  Fearing,  therefore,  that 
we  were  run  farther  to  the  west  than  we  thought  our- 
selves by  our  reckoning,  and  dreading  that  we  should 
fall  to  the  south  of  New  Guinea,  or  be  thrown  upon 
some  unknown  coast  in  such  blowing  misty  weather, 
we  resolved  to  stand  away  to  the  north,  or  to  the 
north-north-west,  till  we  should  arrive  in  the  latitude 
of  4,  5,  or  6°  south,  and  then  to  bear  away  west  for  the 
coast  of  New  Guinea,  as  the  least  dangerous  way  that 
we  could  take. 

It  is  very  x^laiw  from  hence,  that  Captain  Tasman 
had  now  laid  aside  all  thoughts  of  discoA^ering  farther, 
and  I  think  it  is  not  difficult  to  guess  at  the  reason ; 
when  he  was  in  this  latitude,  he  was  morally  certain 
that  he  could,  without  further  difficulty,  sail  round  by 


TASMAN'S   VOYAGE    OF   DISCOVERY.  55 

the  coast  of  New  Guinea,  aud  so  back  again  to  the 
East  Indies.  It  is  therefore  extremely  probable  that 
he  was  directed  by  his  instructions  to  coast  round  that 
great  southern  continent  already  discovered,  in  order 
to  arrive  at  a  certainty  whether  it  was  joined  to  any 
other  part  of  the  world,  or  whether,  notwithstanding 
its  vast  extent,  viz.,  from  the  equator  to  43^^  of  south 
latitude,  and  from  the  longitude  of  123°  to  near  190°, 
it  was,  notwithstanding,  an  island.  This,  I  say,  was 
in  all  appearance  the  true  design  of  his  voyage,  and  the 
reason  of  it  seems  to  be  this  :  that  an  exact  chart  being 
drawn  from  his  discoveries,  the  East  India  Company 
might  have  perfect  intelligence  of  the  extent  and 
situation  of  this  new-found  country  before  they  exe- 
cuted the  plan  they  were  then  contriving  for  preventing 
its  being  visited  or  farther  discovered  by  their  own  or 
any  other  nation ;  and  this  too  accounts  for  the  care 
taken  in  laying  down  the  map  of  this  country  on  the 
pavement  of  the  new  stadthouse  at  Amsterdam ;  for  as 
this  county  was  henceforward  to  remain  as  a  kind  of 
deposit  or  land  of  reserve  in  the  hands  of  tlie  East 
India  Company,  they  took  this  method  of  intimating 
as  much  to  their  countrymen,  so  that,  while  strangers 
are  gaping  at  this  map  as  a  curiosity,  every  intelligent 
Dutchman  may  say  to  himself,  "  Behold  the  wisdom  of 
the  East  India  Company.  By  their  present  empire 
they  support  the  authority  of  this  republic  abroad, 
and  by  their  extensive  commerce  enrich  its  subjects 
at  home,  and  at  the  same  time  show  us  here  what  a 


56  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

reserve  they  have  made  for  the  benefit  of  posterity, 
whenever,  through  the  vicissitudes  to  which  all  sub- 
lunary thing's  are  liable,  their  present  sources  of  power 
and  grandeur  sliall  fail," 

I  cannot  help  supporting  ni}"  opinion  in  this  respect, 
by  putting  the  reader  in  mind  of  a  very  curious  piece 
of  ancient  history,  which  furnishes  us  with  the  like 
instance  in  the  conduct  of  another  republic.  Diodorus 
Siculus,  in  the  fifth  book  of  his  Historical  Library, 
informs  us  that  in  the  African  Ocean,  some  days'  sail 
west  from  Libya,  there  had  been  discovered  an  island, 
the  soil  of  which  was  exceedingly  fertile  and  the 
country  no  less  pleasant,  all  the  land  being  finely 
diversified  by  mountains  and  plains,  the  former  thick 
clothed  with  trees,  ihe  latter  abounding  with  fruits  and 
flowers,  the  whole  watered  by  innumerable  rivulets,  and 
affording  so  pleasant  an  habitation  that  a  finer  or  more 
deliglitful  country  fancy  itself  could  not  feign  ;  yet  he 
assures  us,  the  Carthagenians,  those  great  masters  of 
maritime  power  and  commerce,  though  they  had  dis- 
covered this  admirable  island,  would  never  suffer  it  to 
be  planted,  but  reserA'ed  it  as  a  sanctuary  to  which  they 
miglit  fly,  whenever  the  ruin  of  their  own  republic  left 
them  no  other  resource.  Tliis  tallies  exactly  with  the 
policy  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  who,  if  they 
should  at  any  time  be  driven  from  their  possessions  in 
Java,  Ceylon,  and  other  places  in  that  neighbourhood, 
would  without  doubt  retire  back  into  the  Moluccas, 
and  avail   themselves   effectually   of   this   noble   dis- 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  57 

covery,    wliicli    lies    open    to    them,   and    lias  been 

hitherto  close  shut  up  to  all  the  world  beside.  But 
to  proceed. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

OCCURRENCES   IN   THE   VOYAGE. 

On  February  14tli  we  were  in  the  latitude  of  16°  30' 
south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  193°  35'.  AVc  had 
hitherto  had  much  rain  and  bad  weather,  but  this  day 
the  wind  sinking,  we  hailed  our  consort  the  Zee-Haan, 
and  found  to  our  great  satisfaction  that  our  reckonings 
agreed.  On  the  20th,  in  the  latitude  of  13°  45',  and 
in  the  longitude  of  193°  35',  we  had  dark,  cloudy 
weather,  much  rain,  thick  fogs,  and  a  rolling  sea,  on 
all  sides  the  wind  variable.  On  the  26th,  in  the 
latitude  of  9°  48'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  193° 
43',  we  had  a  north-west  wind,  having  CA^ery  day,  for 
the  space  of  twenty-one  da^^s,  rained  more  or  loss.  On 
March  2nd,  in  the  latitude  of  9°  11'  south,  and  in  tlio 
longitude  of  192°  46',  the  variation  was  10^  to  the  cast, 
the  wind  and  weather  still  varying.  On  March  8th,  in 
the  latitude  of  7°  46'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of 
190°  47',  the  wind  was  still  variable. 


58  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

HE     ARRIVES    AT   THE    ARCHIPELAGO    OF    ANTHONG 
JAVA. 

On  the  14tli,  in  tlie  latitude  of  10°  12'  south,  and  in 
the  longitude  of  186°  14',  we  found  the  variation  8° 
45'  to  the  east.  We  passed  some  days  without  heing 
able  to  take  any  observation,  because  the  weather  was 
all  that  time  dark  and  rainy.  On  March  20th,  in  the 
latitude  of  5°  15'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  181° 
16',  the  weather  being  then  fair,  we  found  the  A^ariation 
9°  eastward.  On  the  22nd,  in  the  latitude  of  5°  2' 
south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  178°  32',  we  had  fine 
fair  weather,  and  the  benefit  of  the  east  trade  wind. 
This  day  we  had  sight  of  laud,  which  lay  four  miles 
west.  This  land  proved  to  be  a  cluster  of  twenty 
islands,  which  in  the  maps  are  called  Anthong  Java. 
They  lie  ninety  miles  or  thereabouts  from  the  coast  of 
New  Guinea.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe  here, 
that  what  Captain  Tasman  calls  the  coast  of  New 
Guinea,  is  in  reality  the  coast  of  New  Britain,  which 
Captain  Dampier  first  discovered  to  be  a  large  island 
separated  from  the  coast  of  New  Guinea. 


tasman's  voyage  op  discovery.  59 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

HIS   ARRIVAL   ON   THE    COAST    OF    NEW    GUINEA. 

On  the  25tli,  iu  the  latitude  of  4*  35'  south,  and  iu  the 
longitude  of  175°  10',  we  found  the  variation  9°  30' 
east.  We  were  then  in  the  height  of  the  islands  of 
Mark,  which  were  discovered  by  William  Schovten 
and  James  le  Maire.  They  are  fourteen  or  fifteen  in 
number,  inhabited  by  savages,  with  black  hair,  dressed 
and  trimmed  in  the  same  manner  as  those  we  say/ 
before  at  the  Bay  of  Murderers  in  New  Zealand.  On 
the  29th  we  passed  the  G-reen  Islands,  and  on  the  oOtli 
that  of  St,  John,  which  were  likewise  discovered  by 
Schovten  and  Le  Maire.  This  island  they  found  to  be 
of  a  considerable  extent,  and  judged  it  to  lie  at  the 
distance  of  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty 
leagues  from  the  coast  of  Peru.  It  appeared  to  them 
well  inhabited  and  well  cultivated,  abounding  with 
flesh,  fowl,  fish,  fruit,  and  other  refreshments.  The 
inhabitants  made  use  of  canoes  of  all  sizes,  were  armed 
with  slings,  darts,  and  wooden  swords,  wore  necklaces 
and  bracelets  of  pearl,  and  rings  in  their  noses.  They 
were,  however,  very  intractable,  notwithstanding  all 
the  pains  that  could  be  taken  to  engage  them  in  a  fair 
correspondence,  so  that  Captain  Schovten  was  at  last 
obliged  to  fire  upon  them  to  prevent  them  from  making 
themselves  masters  of  his  vessel,  which  they  attacked 
with  a  great  deal  of  vigour ;  and  very  probably  this 


60  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

was  the  reason  that  Captain  Tasman  did  not  attempt 
to  land  or  make  any  farther  discovery.  On  April  1st, 
we  were  in  the  latitude  of  4'^  30'  south,  and  in  the 
longfitude  of  171°  2',  the  variation  being  S^  45'  to  the 
east,  havino^  now  sight  of  the  coast  of  New  Guinea ; 
and  endeavoui-ing  to  double  the  cape  which  the 
Spaniards  call  Cobo  Santa  Maria,  we  continued  to  sail 
along  tlio  coast  whicli  lies  north-west.  "We  afterwards 
passed  the  islands  of  Antony  Caens,  Gardeners  Island, 
and  Fishers  Island,  advancing  towards  the  promontory 
called  Struis  Hoek,  where  the  coast  runs  south  and 
south-east.  We  resolved  to  pursue  the  same  route, 
and  to  continue  steering  south  till  we  should  either 
discover  land  or  a  ]3assage  on  that  side. 

It  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  all  this  time  they 
continued  on  the  coast,  not  of  New  Guinea  but  of  New 
Britain,  for  that  cape  which  the  Spaniards  called 
Santa  Maria  is  the  very  same  that  Captain  Dampier 
called  Cape  St.  George,  and  Caens,  Gardeners,  and 
Fishers  Islands  all  lie  upon  the  same  coast.  They  had 
been  discovered  by  Schovten  and  Le  Maire,  who  found 
them  to  bo  well  inhabited,  but  by  a  very  base  and 
treacherous  people,  who,  after  making  signs  of  peace, 
attempted  to  surprise  their  ships  ;  and  these  islanders 
managed  tlieir  slings  with  such  force  and  dexterity,  as 
to  drive  the  Dutch  sailors  from  their  decks;  which 
account  of  Le  Maire's  agree  perfectly  well  with  what 
Captain  Dampier  tells  us  of  the  same  people.  As  for 
the  continent  of  New  Guinea,  it  lies  quite  behind  the 


TAsmAn*s  voyage  of  discovery.  61 

island  of  New  Britain,  and  was  tlievefore  laid  down  in 
all  the  charts  before  Dampier's  discovery,  at  least  four 
degrees  more  to  the  oast  than  it  i.lioiild  have  been. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

continues  his  voyage  along  that  coast. 

On  April  12th,  in  the  latitude  o£  3^  45'  south,  and  in 
the  longitude  of  167 "",  we  found  the  variation  10^  to- 
wards the  east.  That  night  part  of  the  crew  were 
wakened  out  of  their  sleep  by  an  earthquake.  They 
immediately  ran  upon  deck,  supposing  that  the  ship 
had  struck.  On  heaving  the  lead,  however,  there  was 
no  bottom  to  be  found.  We  had  afterwards  several 
shocks,  but  none  of  them  so  violent  as  the  first.  We 
had  then  doubled  tlie  Struis  Hoek,  and  were  at  that 
time  in  the  Bay  of  Good  Hope.  On  the  14th,  in  the 
latitude  of  5°  27'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  166° 
57',  we  observed  the  variation  to  be  9^  15'  to  the  east. 
The  land  lay  then  north-east,  east-north-east,  and  again 
south-south-west,  so  that  we  imagined  there  had  been  a 
passage  between  tliose  two  points ;  but  we  were  soon 
convinced  of  our  mistake,  and  that  it  was  aU  one  coast, 
so  that  we  were  obliged  to  double  the  West  Cape  and 
to  continue  creeping  along  shore,  and  were  much 
hindered  in  our  passage  by  calms.  This  description 
agrees  very  well  with  that  of  Schovteu  and  Le  Maire, 


62  EARLY  ATJSTEATilAN  VOYAGES. 

SO  that  probalDly  tliey  had  now  sight  again  of  the  coast 
of  New  Guinea. 

It  is  very  probable,  from  the  accident  that  happened 
to  Captain  Tasman,  and  which  also  happened  to  others 
upon  that  coast,  and  from  the  burning  mountains  that 
will  be  hereafter  mentioned,  that  this  country  is  very 
subject  to  earthquakes,  and  if  so,  without  doubt  it 
abounds  with  metals  and  minerals,  of  which  we  have 
also  another  proof  from  a  point  in  which  all  these 
writers  agree,  viz.,  that  the  people  they  saw  had  rings 
in  their  noses  and  ears,  though  none  of  them  tell  us  of 
what  metal  those  rings  were  made,  which  Le  Maire 
might  easily  have  done,  since  he  carried  off  a  man  from 
one  of  the  islands  whose  name  was  Moses,  from  whom 
he  learned  that  almost  every  nation  on  this  coast  speaks 
a  different  language. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 

ARRIVES  IN  THE  NEIGHBOURHOOD  OF  BURNING 
ISLAND,  AND  SURVEYS  THE  WHOLE  COAST  OP 
NEW   GUINEA. 

On  the  20th,  in  the  latitude  of  5°  4'  south,  and  in  the 
longitude  164°  27',  we  found  the  variation  8^  30'  east. 
We  that  night  drew  near  the  Brandande  Tland,  i.e., 
burning  island,  which  William  Schovten  mentions, 
and  we  j)erceived  a  great  flame  issuing,  as  he  says, 
from  the  top  of  a  high  moimtain.      When  we  were 


TASMAN's  VOYAaE   OF   DISCOVERY.  63 

between  that  island  and  the  continent,  we  saw  a  vast 
number  of  fires  along  the  shore  and  half-way  up  the 
mountain,  from  whence  we  concluded  that  the  country 
must  be  very  populous.  We  were  often  detained  on 
this  coast  by  calms,  and  frequently  observed  small 
trees,  bamboos,  and  shrubs,  which  the  rivers  on  that 
coast  carried  into  the  sea ;  from  which  we  inferred  that 
this  part  of  the  country  was  extremely  well  watered, 
tind  that  the  land  must  be  very  good.  The  next 
morning  we  passed  the  Ijurning  mountain,  and  con- 
tinued a  west-north-west  course  along  that  coast. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Schovten  had  made  the  same 
observation  with  respect  to  the  drift-wood  forced  by 
the  rivers  into  the  sea.  He  likewise  observed  that 
there  was  so  copious  a  discharge  of  fresh  water,  that  it 
altered  the  colour  and  the  taste  of  the  sea.  He  like- 
wise says  that  the  burning  island  is  extremely  well 
peopled,  and  also  well  cultivated.  He  afterwards 
anchored  on  the  coast  of  the  continent,  and  endeavoured 
to  trade  with  the  natives,  who  made  him  pay  very  dear 
for  hogs  and  cocoa-nuts,  and  likewise  showed  him  some 
ginger.  It  appears  from  Captain  Tasman's  account 
that  he  was  now  in  haste  to  return  to  Batavia,  and  did 
not  give  himself  so  much  trouble  as  at  the  beginning 
about  discoveries,  and  to  say  the  truth,  there  was  no 
great  occasion,  if,  as  I  observed,  his  commission  was 
no  more  than  to  sail  round  the  new  discovered  coasts, 
in  order  to  lay  them  down  with  greater  certainty  in  the 
Dutch  charts. 


C4         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

CHAPTER  XYIT. 

COMES    TO   THE    ISLANDS   OF   JAMA   AND   MOA. 

On  the  27th,  being  in  the  latitude  of  2^  10'  south,  and 
in  the  longitude  of  146^  57',  we  fancied  that  we  had 
a  sight  of  the  island  of  Moa,  but  it  proved  to  be  that 
of  Jama,  which  lies  a  little  to  the  east  of  Moa.  Wo 
found  here  great  plenty  of  cocoa-nuts  and  other  re- 
fresliments.  The  inhabitants  were  absolutely  black, 
and  could  easily  repeat  the  words  that  they  heard 
others  speak,  which  shows  their  own  to  be  a  very 
copious  language.  It  is,  however,  exceedingly  difficult 
to  pronounce,  because  they  mate  frequent  use  of  the 
letter  R,  and  sometimes  to  such  a  degree  that  it  occurs 
twice  or  thrice  in  the  same  word.  The  next  day  we 
anchored  on  the  coast  of  the  island  of  Moa,  where  we 
likewise  found  abundance  of  refreshments,  and  where 
we  were  obliged  by  bad  weather  to  stay  till  May  9th. 
"We  purchased  there,  by  way  of  exchange,  six  thousand 
cocoa-nuts,  and  a  hundred  bags  of  pysanghs  or  Indian 
figs.  When  we  first  began  to  trade  with  these  people, 
one  of  our  seamen  was  wounded  by  an  arrow  that  one 
of  the  natives  let  fly,  either  through  malice  or  inad- 
vertency. We  were  at  that  very  juncture  endea- 
vouring to  bring  our  ships  close  to  the  shore,  which  so 
terrified  these  islanders,  that  they  brought  of  their 
own  accord  on  board  us,  the  man  who  had  shot  the 
arrow  and  left  him  at  our  mercy.     We  found  them 


TASJIAN's   VOYAaE    OF    DISCOVERY.  65 

after  tliis  accident  mucli  more  tractable  than  before  in 
every  respect.  Our  sailors,  therefore,  j)ullecl  off  the 
iron  hoops  from  some  of  the  old  water-casks,  stuck 
them  into  wooden  handles,  and  filing  them  to  an  edge, 
sold  these  awkward  knives  to  the  inhabitants  for  their 
fruits. 

In  all  probability  they  had  not  forgot  what  hap]3ened 
to  our  people  on  July  16th,  1616,  in  the  days  of  William 
Schovten  :  these  people,  it  seems,  treated  him  very  ill ; 
upon  which  James  le  Maire  brought  his  ship  close  to 
the  shore,  and  fired  a  broadside  through  the  woods; 
the  bullets,  flying  through  the  trees,  struck  the  negroes 
with  such  a  panic,  that  they  fled  in  an  instant  up 
into  the  country,  and  durst  not  show  their  heads  again 
till  they  had  made  full  satisfaction  for  what  was  past, 
and  thereby  secured  tbeir  safety  for  the  time  to  come ; 
and  he  traded  with  them  afterwards  very  peaceably, 
and  with  mutual  satisfaction. 

This  account  of  our  author's  seems  to  have  been 
taken  upon  memory,  and  is  not  very  exact.  Schovten's 
seamen,  or  rather  the  petty  oflBcer  who  commanded  his 
long  boat,  insulted  the  natives  grossly  before  they 
offered  any  injury  to  his  people ;  and  then,  notwith- 
standing they  fired  upon  them  with  small  arms,  the 
islanders  obliged  them  to  retreat ;  so  that  they  were 
forced  to  bring  the  great  guns  to  bear  upon  the  island 
before  they  could  reduce  them.  These  people  do  not 
deserve  to  be  treated  as  savages,  because  Schovten 
acknowledges  that  they  had  been  engaged  in  commerce 
c— 43 


66  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

with  the  Spaniards  ;  as  appeared  by  their  having  iron 
pots,  glass  beads,  and  pendants,  with  other  European 
commodities,  before  he  came  thither.  He  also  tells  us 
that  they  were  a  very  civilised  people,  their  country  well 
cultivated  and  very  fruitful ;  that  they  had  a  great  many 
boats,  and  other  small  craft,  which  they  navigated  with 
great  dexterity.  He  adds  also,  that  they  gave  him  a 
very  distinct  account  of  the  neighbouring  islands,  and 
that  they  solicited  him  to  fire  upon  the  Arimoans,  with 
whom  it  seems  they  are  always  at  war ;  which,  however, 
he  refused  to  do,  unless  provoked  to  it  by  some  injury 
offered  by  those  people.  It  is  therefore  very  apparent 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Moa  are  a  people  with  whom 
any  Europeans,  settled  in  their  neighbourhood,  might 
without  any  difficulty  settle  a  commerce,  and  receive 
considerable  assistance  from  them  in  making  dis- 
coveries. But  perhaps  some  nations  are  fitter  for  these 
kind  of  expeditions  than  others,  as  being  less  apt  to 
make  use  of  their  artillery  and  small  arms  upon  every 
little  dispute ;  for  as  the  inhabitants  of  Moa  are  well 
enough  acquainted  with  the  superiority  which  the 
Europeans  have  over  them,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
they  will  ever  hazard  their  toltal  destruction  by  com- 
mitting any  gross  act  of  cruelty  upon  strangers  who 
visit  their  coast;  and  it  is  certainly  very  unfair  to 
treat  people  as  savages  and  barbarians,  merely  for 
defending  themselves  when  insulted  or  attacked  with- 
out cause.  The  instance  Captain  Tasman  gives  us  of 
their  delivering  up  the  man  who  wounded  his  sailor  is 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  67 

a  plain  proof  of  this  ;  and  as  to  tlie  diffidence  and  sus- 
picion whicii  some  later  voyagers  have  complained  of 
with  respect  to  tlie  inhabitants  of  this  island,  they 
must  certainly  be  the  effects  of  the  bad  behaviour  of 
such  Eurox^eans  as  this  nation  have  hitherto  dealt  with, 
and  would  be  effectually  removed,  if  ever  they  had  a 
settled  experience  of  a  contrary  conduct.  The  surest 
method  of  teacliing  people  to  behave  honestly  towards 
us  is  to  behave  friendly  and  honestly  towards  them,  and 
then  there  is  no  great  reason  to  fear,  that  such  as  give 
evident  proofs  of  capacity  and  civility  in  the  common 
affairs  of  life  should  be  guilty  of  treachery  that  must 
turn  to  their  own  disadvantage. 


CHAPTER   XYIII. 

PROSECUTES   HIS   VOYAGE    TO    CERAM. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  being  then  in  the  latitude  of  54' 
south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  153^  17',  we  found  the 
variation  6°  30'  to  the  east.  We  continued  coasting 
the  north  side  of  the  island  of  William  Schovten, 
whicli  is  about  eighteen  or  nineteen  miles  long,  very 
populous,  and  the  people  very  brisk  and  active.  It 
was  with  great  caution  that  Schovten  gave  his  name  to 
this  island,  for  having  observed  that  there  were  abun- 
dance of  small  islands  laid  down  in  the  charts  on  the 
coast  of  New  Guinea,  he  was  suspicious  that  this  might 


68         EARLY  AUSTRALIAX  VOYAGES. 

be  of  tlie  number.  But  since  tliat  time  it  seems  a 
point  generally  agreed,  that  this  island  had  not  before 
any  particular  name ;  and  therefore,  in  all  subsequent 
voyages,  we  find  it  constantly  mentioned  by  the  name 
of  Schovten's  Island. 

He  describes  it  as  a  very  fertile  and  well-peopled 
island ;  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  so  far  from  dis- 
covering anything  of  a  savage  nature,  that  they  gave 
apparent  testimonies  of  their  having  had  an  extensive 
commerce  before  he  touched  there,  since  they  not  only 
showed  him  various  commodities  from  the  Spaniards, 
but  also  several  samples  of  China  ware ;  he  observes 
that  they  are  very  unlike  the  nations  he  had  seen  before, 
being  rather  of  an  olive  colour  than  black ;  some 
having  short,  others  long  hair,  dressed  after  different 
fashions  ;  they  were  also  a  taller,  stronger,  and  stouter 
people  than  their  neighbours.  These  little  circum- 
stances, which  may  seem  tedious  or  trifling  to  such  as 
read  only  for  amusement,  are,  however,  of  very  great 
importance  to  such  as  have  discoveries  in  view ;  be- 
cause they  argue  that  these  people  have  a  general 
correspondence  ;  the  difference  of  their  complexion 
must  arise  from  a  mixed  descent ;  and  the  different 
manner  of  wearing  their  hair  is  undou])tedly  owing  to 
their  following  the  fashion  of  different  nations,  as 
their  fancies  lead  them.  He  farther  observes  that  their 
vessels  were  larger  and  better  contrived  than  their 
neighbours ;  that  they  readily  parted  with  their  bows 
and  arrows  in  exchange  for  goods,  and  that  they  were 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery,  60 

particularly  fond  of  glass  and  ironware,  wLich,  perhaps, 
tliey  not  only  used  themselves,  but  employed  like- 
wise in  their  commerce.  The  most  western  point  of 
the  island  he  called  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  because 
by  doubling  that  cape  he  expected  to  reach  the  island 
of  Banda  ;  and  that  we  may  not  wonder  that  he  was  in 
doubts  and  difficulties  as  to  the  situation  of  these  places, 
we  ought  to  reflect  that  Schovten  was  the  first  who 
sailed  round  the  world  by  this  course,  and  the  last 
too,  except  Commodore  Roggewein,  other  navigators 
choosing  rather  to  run  as  high  as  California,  and  from 
thence  to  the  Ladrone  Islands,  merely  because  it  is  the 
ordinary  route. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  island  Schovten  also 
met  with  an  earthquake,  which  alarmed  the  ship's 
company  excessively,  from  an  apprehension  that  they 
had  struck  upon  a  rocL.  There  are  some  other  islands 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  this,  well  peopled,  and  well 
planted,  abounding  with  excellent  fruits,  especially  of 
the  melon  kind.  These  islands  lie,  as  it  were,  on  the 
confines  of  the  southern  continent,  and  the  East  Indies, 
so  that  the  inhabitants  enjoy  all  tlie  advantages  re- 
sulting from  their  own  happy  climate,  and  from  their 
traffic  with  their  neighbours,  especially  with  those  of 
Ternate  and  Amboyna,  who  come  thither  yearly  to  pur- 
chase their  commodities,  and  who  are  likewise  visited 
at  certain  seasons  by  the  people  of  these  islands  in 
their  turn. 


70         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ARRIVES   SAFELY   AT  BATAVIA,    JUNE  15,  1643. 

On  tlie  18tli  of  May,  in  tlie  latitude  of  26'  south  and  in 
the  longitude  of  147^  55',  we  observed  the  variation  to 
be  5^  30'  east.  We  were  now  arrived  at  the  western 
extremity  of  l!^ew  Guinea,  which  is  a  detached  point 
or  promontory  (though  it  is  not  marked  so  even  in  the 
latest  maps) ;  here  we  met  with  calms,  variable  and 
contrary  winds,  with  much  rain ;  from  thence  we  steered 
for  Coram,  leaving  the  Cape  on  the  north,  and  arrived 
safely  on  that  island;  by  this  time  Captain  Tasman 
had  fairly  surrounded  the  continent  he  was  instructed 
to  discover,  and  had  tlierefore  nothing  now  farther  in 
view  than  to  return  to  Batavia,  in  order  to  report  the 
discoveries  he  had  made. 

On  the  27th  of  May  we  passed  through  the  straits 
of  Boura,  or  Bouton,  and  continued  our  passage  to 
Batavia,  where  we  arrived  on  the  15th  of  June,  in 
the  latitude  of  6°  12'  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of 
127^  18'.  This  voyage  was  made  in  the  space  of  ten 
months.  Such  was  the  end  of  this  expedition,  which 
has  been  always  considered  as  the  clearest  and  most 
exact  that  was  ever  made  for  the  discovery  of  the  Terra 
Australis  Incognita,  from  whence  that  chart  and  map 
was  laid  down  in  the  pavement  of  the  stadt-house  at 
Amsterdam,  as  is  before  mentioned.  We  have  now 
nothing   to   do   but   to  shut  up  this  voyage  and  our 


TASMAN  S   VOYAGE    OF   DISCOVERY.  7i 

history  of  circumnavigators,  with  a  few  remarks,  pre- 
vious to  which  it  will  be  requisite  to  state  clearly  and 
succinctly  the  discoveries,  either  made  or  confii-med  by 
Captain  Tasman's  voyage,  that  the  importance  of  it 
may  fully  appear,  as  well  as  the  probability  of  our  con- 
jectures with  regard  to  the  motives  that  induced  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company  to  be  at  so  much  pains 
about  these  discoveries. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

CONSEQUENCES  OF   CAPTAIN   TASMAN's  DISCOVERIES. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  it  is  most  evident,  from  Captain 
Tasman's  voyage,  that  New  Guinea,  Carpentaria,  New 
Holland,  Antony  van  Diemen's  Land,  and  the  countries 
discovered  by  De  Quiros,  make  all  one  continent,  from 
which  New  Zealand  seems  to  be  separated  by  a  strait ; 
and,  perhaps,  is  part  of  another  continent,  answering 
to  Africa,  as  this,  of  which  we  are  now  speaking, 
plainly  does  to  America.  This  continent  reaches  from  the 
equinoctial  to  44"^  of  south  latitude,  and  extends  from 
122^  to  188°  of  longitude,  making  indeed  a  very  large 
country,  but  nothing  like  what  De  Quiros  imagined; 
which  shows  how  dangerous  a  thing  it  is  to  trust  too 
much  to  conjecture  in  such  points  as  these.  It  is, 
secondly,  observable,  that  as  New  Guinea,  Carpentaria, 
and    New    Holland,  had    been    already    pretty    well 


72  EARLY   AUSTSALIAN   VOYAGES. 

examined,  Captain  Tasman  fell  directly  to  the  soutli  of 
tliese ;  so  that  his  first  discovery  was  Van  Diemen's 
Land,  the  most  soiitlieru  part  of  the  continent  on  tliis 
side  the  globe,  and  then  passing  round  by  New  Zea- 
land, he  plainly  discovered  the  opposite  side  of  that 
country  towards  America,  though  he  visited  the  islands 
only,  and  never  fell  in  again  with  the  continent  tall  he 
arrived  on  the  coast  of  New  Britain,  which  he  mistook 
for  that  of  New  Guinea,  as  he  very  well  might ;  that 
country  having  never  been  suspected  to  be  an  island, 
till  Dampier  discovered  it  to  be  such  in  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century.  Thirdly,  by  this  survey,  these 
countries  are  for  ever  marked  out,  so  long  as  the  map, 
or  memory  of  this  voyage,  shall  remain.  The  Dutch 
East  India  Company  have  it  always  in  their  power  to 
direct  settlements,  or  new  discoveries,  either  in  New 
Guinea,  from  the  Moluccas,  or  in  New  Holland,  from 
Batavia  directly.  The  prudence  shown  in  the  conduct 
of  this  affair  deserves  the  highest  praise.  To  .have 
attempted  heretofore,  or  even  now,  the  establishing 
colonies  in  those  countries,  would  be  impolitic,  because 
it  would  be  grasping  more  than  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, or  than  even  the  republic  of  Holland,  could 
manage;  for,  in  the  first  place,  to  reduce  a  continent 
between  three  and  four  thousand  miles  broad  is  a  pro- 
digious undertaking,  and  to  settle  it  by  degrees  would 
be  to  open  to  all  the  world  the  importance  of  that 
country  which,  for  an}'thing  we  can  tell,  may  be  much 
superior  to  any  country  yet  known  :  the  only  choice, 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  73 

therefore,  tiiat  tlie  Dutcli  had  left,  was  to  reserve  this 
mighty  discovery  till  the  season  arrived,  in  which  they 
should  he  either  obliged  by  necessity  or  invited  by 
occasion  to  make  use  of  it ;  but  though  this  country 
be  reserved,  it  is  no  longer  either  unknown  or  ne- 
glected by  the  Dutch,  which  is  a  point  of  very  great 
consequence.  To  the  other  nations  of  Europe,  the 
southern  continent  is  a  chimera,  a  thing  in  the  clouds, 
or  at  least  a  country  about  which  tliere  are  a  thousand 
doubts  and  suspicions,  so  that  to  talk  of  discovering  or 
settling  it  must  be  regarded  as  an  idle  and  empty  project : 
but,  with  respect  to  them,  it  is  a  thing  perfectly  well 
known;  its  extent,  its  boundaries,  its  situation,  the 
genius  of  its  several  nations,  and  the  commodities  of 
which  they  are  possessed,  are  absolutely  within  their 
cognisance,  so  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  take  such 
measures  as  appear  to  them  best,  for  securing  the 
eventual  possession  of  this  country,  whenever  they 
think  fit.  This  account  explains  at  once  all  the 
mysteries  which  the  best  writers  upon  this  subject 
have  found  in  the  Dutch  proceedings.  It  shows  why 
they  have  been  at  so  much  pains  to  obtain  a  clear  and 
distinct  survey  of  these  distant  countries ;  why  they 
have  hitherto  forborne  settling,  and  why  they  take  so 
much  pains  to  prevent  other  nations  from  coming  at  a 
distinct  knowledge  of  tliem :  and  I  may  add  to  this 
another  particular,  which  is  that  it  accounts  for  their 
permitting  the  natives  of  Amlioyna,  who  are  their  sub- 
jects, to  carry  on  a  trade  to  New  Guinea,  and  the  adjacent 


/4  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

countries,  since,  by  this  very  method,  it  is  apparent 
that  they  gain  daily  fresh  intelligence  as  to  the  product 
and  commodities  of  those  countries.  Having  thus 
explained  the  consequence  of  Captain  Tasman's  voyage, 
and  thereby  fully  justified  my  gi'^'ing  it  a  place  in  this 
part  of  my  work,  I  am  now  at  liberty  to  pursue  the 
reflections  with  which  I  promised  to  close  this  section, 
and  the  history  of  circumnavigators,  and  in  doing 
which,  I  shall  endeavour  to  make  the  reader  sensible 
of  the  advantages  that  arise  from  publishing  these 
voyages  in  their  proper  order,  so  as  to  show  what 
is,  and  what  is  yet  to  be  discovered  of  the  globe  on 
which  we  live. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

REMARKS   UPON   THE   VOYAGE. 

In  speaking  of  the  consequences  of  Captain  Tas- 
man's voyage,  it  has  been  very  amply  shown  that 
this  part  of  Terra  Australis,  or  southern  country,  has 
been  fully  and  certainly  discovered.  To  prevent,  how- 
ever, the  reader's  making  any  mistake,  I  will  take  this 
opportunity  of  laying  before  him  some  remarks  on  the 
whole  southern  hemisphere,  which  wiU  enable  him 
immediately  to  comprehend  all  that  I  have  afterwards 
to  say  on  this  subject. 

If  we  suppose  the  south  pole  to  be  the  centre  of  a 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  75 

chart  of  wliicli  the  equinoctial  is  the  circumference,  we 
shall  then  discern  four  quarters,  of  the  contents  of 
which,  if  we  could  give  a  full  account,  this  part  of  the 
world  would  he  perfectly  discovered.  To  begin  then 
with  the  first  of  these,  that  is,  from  the  first  meridian, 
placed  in  the  island  of  Fero.  Within  this  division, 
that  is  to  say,  from  the  first  to  the  nineteenth  degree 
of  longitude,  there  lies  the  great  continent  of  Africa, 
the  most  southern  point  of  which  is  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  lying  in  the  latitude  of  34°  15'  south.  Between 
that  and  the  pole,  several  small  but  very  inconsiderable 
islands  have  been  discovered,  affording  us  only  this 
degree  of  certainty,  that  to  the  latitude  of  50°  there 
is  no  land  to  be  found  of  any  consequence ;  there  was, 
indeed,  a  voyage  made  by  Mr.  Bovet  in  the  year  1738, 
on  purpose  to  discover  whether  there  were  any  lands 
to  the  south  in  that  quarter  or  not.  This  gentleman 
sailed  from  Port  I'Orient  July  the  18th,  1738,  and  on 
the  1st  of  January,  1739,  discovered  a  country,  the 
coasts  of  which  were  covered  with  ice,  in  the  latitude 
of  54^  south,  and  in  the  longitude  of  28°  30',  the  varia- 
tion of  the  compass  being  there  6°  45',  to  the  west. 

In  the  next  quarter,  that  is  to  say,  from  90°  longi- 
tude to  180°,  lie  the  countries  of  which  we  have  been 
speaking,  or  that  large  southern  island,  extending 
from  the  equinoctial  to  the  latitude  of  43°  10',  and  the 
longitude  of  167°  55',  which  is  the  extremity  of  Yan 
Diemen's  Laud 

In  the  third  quarter,  that  is,  from  the  longitude  of 


76  EARLY   ATJSTRALTAN   VOYAGES. 

150°  to  170°,  there  is  very  little  discovered  with  any 
certainty.  Captain  Tasman,  indeed,  visited  the  coast 
of  New  Zealand,  in  the  latitude  of  42°  10'  south,  and 
in  the  longitude  of  188°  28' ;  but  besides  this,  and  the 
islands  of  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam,  we  know  very 
little ;  and  therefore,  if  there  be  any  doubts  about  the 
reality  of  Terra  Australis,  it  must  be  with  respect  to 
that  part  of  it  which  lies  within  this  quarter,  through 
which  Schovten  and  Le  Maire  sailed,  but  without  dis- 
covering anything  more  than  a  few  small  islands. 

The  fourth  and  last  quarter  is  from  270°  of  longi- 
tude to  the  first  meridian,  within  which  lies  the  con- 
tinent of  South  America,  and  the  island  of  Terra  del 
Fuego,  the  most  southern  promontory  of  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  Cape  Horn,  which,  according  to  the  best  of 
observations,  is  in  the  latitude  of  56°,  beyond  which 
there  has  been  nothing  with  any  degree  of  certainty 
discovered  on  this  side. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  appears  there  are  three 
continents  already  tolerably  discovered  which  point 
towards  the  south  pole,  and  therefore  it  is  very  pro- 
bable there  is  a  fourth,  which  if  there  be,  it  must  lie 
between  the  country  of  New  Zealand,  discovered  by 
Captain  Tasman,  and  that  country  which  was  seen  by 
Captain  Sharpe  and  Mr.  Wafer  in  the  South  Seas,  to 
which  land  therefore,  and  no  other,  the  title  of  Terra 
Australis  Incognita  properly  belongs.  Leaving  this, 
therefore,  to  the  industry  of  future  ages  to  discover, 
we  will  now  return  to  that  great  southern  island  which 


TASLIAX'S   VOYAGE    OF    DISCOVEEY.  77 

Captain  Tasman  actually  surrounded,  and  the  bounds 
of  which  are  tolerably  well  known. 

In  order  to  give  the  reader  a  proper  idea  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  country,  it  will  be  requisite  to  say 
something  of  the  climates  in  which  it  is  situated.  As 
it  lies  from  the  equinoctial  to  near  the  latitude  of  44'^, 
the  longest  day  in  the  most  northern  parts  must  be 
twelve  hours,  and  in  the  southern  about  fifteen  hours, 
or  somewhat  more,  so  that  it  extends  from  the  first  to 
the  seventh  climate,  which  shows  its  situation  to  be  the 
happiest  in  the  world,  the  country  called  Yan  Diemen's 
Land  resembling  in  all  respects  the  south  of  France. 
As  there  are  in  all  countries  some  parts  more  pleasant 
than  others,  so  there  seems  good  reason  to  believe  that 
within  two  or  three  degrees  of  the  troxjic  of  Capricorn, 
which  passes  through  the  midst  of  New  Holland,  is 
the  most  unwholesome  and  disagreeable  part  of  this 
country ;  the  reason  of  which  is  very  plain,  for  in  those 
parts  it  must  be  excessively  hot,  much  more  so  than 
under  the  line  itself,  since  the  days  and  nights  are 
there  always  equal,  whereas  within  three  or  four 
degrees  of  the  tropic  of  Capricorn,  that  is  to  say,  in 
the  latitude  27*^  south,  the  days  are  thirteen  hours  and 
a  half  long,  and  the  sun  is  twice  in  their  zenith,  first  in 
the  beginning  of  December,  or  rather  in  the  latter  end 
of  November,  and  again  who-»  it  returns  back,  which 
occasions  a  burning  he?A  ..cr  about  two  months,  or 
something  more ;  whereas,  either  farther  to  the  south 
or  nearer  to  the  line,  the  climate  must  be  equally 
wholesome  and  pleasant. 


78  EARLY   ATJSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

As  to  the  product  and  commodities  of  this  country 
in  general,  there  is  the  greatest  reason  in  the  world  to 
believe  that  they  are  extremely  rich  and  valuable, 
because  the  richest  and  finest  countries  in  the  known 
world  lie  all  of  them  within  the  same  latitude  ;  but  [io 
return  from  conjectures  to  facts,  the  country  discovered 
by  De  Quiros  makes  a  part  of  this  great  island,  and 
is  the  opposite  coast  to  that  of  Carpentaria.  This 
country,  the  discoverer  called  La  Australia  dol 
Espiritu  Santo,  in  the  latitude  of  15°  40'  south,  and,  a'^ 
he  reports,  it  abounds  with  gold,  silver,  pearl,  nutmeg-, 
mace,  ginger,  and  sugar-canes,  of  an  extraordinary  size.  7 
do  not  wonder  that  formerly  the  fact  might  be  doubted, 
but  at  present  I  think  there  is  sufficient  reason  to  in- 
duce us  to  believe  it,  for  Captain  Dampier  describe^, 
the  country  about  Cape  St.  George  and  Port  Moun- 
tague,  which  are  within  9°  of  the  country  described  by 
De  Quiros.  I  say  Captain  Dampier  describes  what  he 
saw  in  the  following  words :  "  The  country  hereabouts 
is  mountainous  and  woody,  full  of  rich  valleys  and 
pleasant  fresh-water  brooks  ;  the  mould  in  the  valleys 
is  deep  and  yellowish,  that  on  the  sides  of  the  hills  of  a 
very  brown  colour,  and  not  very  deep,  but  rocky  under- 
neath, yet  excellent  planting  land  ;  the  trees  in  general 
are  neither  very  straight,  thick,  nor  tall,  yet  appear 
green  and  pleasant  enough  ;  some  of  them  bear  flowers, 
some  berries,  and  others  big  fruits,  but  all  unknown  to 
any  of  us ;  cocoa-nut  trees  thrive  very  well  here,  as 
well  on  the  bays  by  the  sea-side,  as  more  remote  amoiij:: 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  79 

the  plantations ;  the  nuts  are  of  an  indifferent  size,  the 
milk  and  kernel  very  thick  and  jileasant;  here  are 
ginger,  yams,  and  other  very  good  roots  for  the  pot, 
that  our  men  saw  and  tasted ;  what  other  fruits  or 
roots  the  country  affords  I  know  not ;  here  are  hogs 
and  dogs,  otlier  land  animals  we  saw  none ;  the  fowls 
we  saw  and  knew  were  pigeons,  parrots,  cocadores,  and 
crows,  like  those  in  England ;  a  sort  of  birds  about  the 
bigness  of  a  blackbird,  and  smaller  birds  many.  The 
sea  and  rivers  have  plenty  of  j&sh  ;  we  saw  abundance, 
though  we  catched  but  few,  and  these  were  cavallies, 
yellow-tails,  and  whip-wreys." 

This  account  is  grounded  only  on  a  very  slight  view, 
whereas  De  Quiros  resided  for  some  time  in  the  place 
he  has  mentioned.  In  another  place  Captain  Dampier 
observes  that  he  saw  nutmegs  amongst  them,  which 
seemed  to  be  fresh- gathered,  all  which  agrees  perfectly 
with  the  account  given  by  De  Quiros;  add  to  this, 
that  Schovten  had  likewise  observed,  that  they  had 
ginger  upon  this  coast,  and  some  other  spices,  so  that 
on  the  whole  there  seems  not  the  least  reason  to  doubt 
that  if  any  part  of  this  country  was  settled,  it  must  be 
attended  with  a  very  rich  commerce ;  for  it  cannot  be 
supposed  that  all  these  writers  should  be  either  mis- 
taken, or  that  they  should  concur  in  a  design  to  impose 
upon  their  readers ;  which  is  the  less  to  be  suspected, 
if  we  consider  how  well  their  reports  agree  with  the 
situation  of  the  country,  and  that  the  trees  on  the 
land,  and  the  fish  on  the  coast,  corresponding  exactly 


80         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

•with  the  trees  of  those  countries,  and  the  fish  on  the 
coasts,  where  these  commodities  are  known  to  abound 
within  land,  seem  to  intimate  a  perfect  conformity 
throughout. 

The  next  thing  to  be  considered  is,  the  possibility 
of  planting  in  this  part  of  the  world,  which  at  first 
sight,  I  must  confess,  seems  to  be  attended  with  con- 
siderable difficulties  with  respect  to  every  other  nation 
except  the  Dutch,  who  either  from  Batavia,  the 
Moluccas,  or  even  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  might 
with  ease  settle  themselves  wherever  they  thought 
fit ;  as,  however,  they  have  neglected  this  for  above  a 
century,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  their  conduct 
in  this  respect  should  become  the  rule  of  other  nations, 
or  why  any  other  nation  should  be  apprehensive  of 
drawing  on  herself  the  displeasure  of  the  Dutch,  by 
endeavouring  to  turn  to  their  benefit  countries  the 
Dutch  have  so  long  suffered  to  lie,  with  respect  to 
Europe,  waste  and  desert. 

The  first  point,  with  respect  to  a  discovery,  would 
be  to  send  a  small  squadron  on  the  coast  of  Yan 
Diemen's  Land,  and  from  thence  round,  in  the  same 
course  taken  by  Captain  Tasman,  by  the  coast  of  New 
Guinea,  which  might  enable  the  nations  that  attempted 
it  to  come  to  an  absolute  certainty  with  regard  to  its 
commodities  and  commerce.  Such  a  voyage  as  this 
might  be  performed  with  very  great  ease,  and  at  a 
small  expense,  by  our  East  India  Company ;  and  this 
in  the  space  of  eight  or  nine  months'  time ;  and  con- 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  81 

sidering  wliat  mighty  advantages  might  accrue  to  the 
nation,  there  seems  to  be  nothing  harsh  or  improbable 
in  supposing  that  some  time  or  other,  when  the  legisla- 
ture is  more  than  usually  intent  on  affairs  of  commerce, 
they  may  be  directed  to  make  such  an  expedition  at 
the  expense  of  the  public.  By  this  means  all  the  back 
coast  of  ISTew  Holland  and  New  Guinea  might  be 
thoroughly  examined,  and  we  might  know  as  well,  and 
as  certainly  as  the  Dutch,  how  far  a  colony  settled 
there  might  answer  our  expectations ;  one  thing  is 
certain,  that  to  persons  used  to  the  navigation  of  the 
Indies,  such  an  expedition  could  not  be  thought  either 
dangerous  or  difficult,  because  it  is  already  sufficiently 
known  that  there  are  everywhere  islands  upon  the 
coast,  where  ships  upon  such  a  discovery  might  be 
sure  to  meet  with  refresliments,  as  is  plain  from  Com- 
modore Roggewein's  voyage,  made  little  more  than 
twenty  years  ago. 

The  only  difficulty  that  I  can  see  would  be  the 
getting  a  fair  and  honest  account  of  this  expedition 
when  made  ;  for  private  interest  is  so  apt  to  interfere, 
and  get  the  better  of  the  public  service,  that  it  is  very 
hard  to  be  sure  of  anything  of  this  sort.  That  I  may 
not  be  suspected  of  any  intent  to  calumniate,  I  shall 
put  the  reader  in  mind  of  two  instances  ;  the  first  is, 
as  to  the  new  trade  from  Russia,  for  establishing  of 
which  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  with  great  difficulty 
obtained,  though  visibly  for  the  advantage  of  the 
nation ;  the  other  instance  is,  the  voyage  of  Captain 


82         EAELY  AUSTRALIAN  TOYAGES. 

Middleton,  for  the  discovery  of  a  north-west  passage 
into  the  south  seas,  which  is  ended  by  a  very  warm 
dispute,  whether  that  passage  be  found  or  not,  the 
person  supposed  to  have  found  it  maintaining  the 
negative. 

Whenever,  therefore,  such  an  expedition  is  under- 
taken, it  ought  to  be  under  the  direction,  not  only  of 
a  person  of  parts  and  experience,  but  of  unspotted 
character,  who,  on  his  return,  should  be  obliged  to 
deliver  his  journal  upon  oath,  and  the  principal  officers 
under  him  should  likewise  be  directed  to  keep  their 
journals  distinctly,  and  without  their  being  inspected 
by  the  principal  officer  ;  all  which  journals  ought  to  be 
published  by  authority  as  soon  as  received,  that  every 
man  might  be  at  liberty  to  examine  them,  and  deliver 
his  thoughts  as  to  the  discoveries  made,  or  the  impedi- 
ments suggested  to  have  hindered  or  prevented  such 
discoveries,  by  which  means  the  public  would  be  sure 
to  obtain  a  full  and  distinct  account  of  the  matter  ;  and 
it  would  thence  immediately  appear  whether  it  would 
be  expedient  to  prosecute  the  design  or  not. 

But  if  it  should  be  thought  too  burdensome  for  a 
company  in  so  flourishing  a  condition,  and  consequently 
engaged  in  so  extensive  a  commerce  as  the  East  India 
Company  is,  to  undertake  such  an  expedition,  merely 
to  serve  the  public,  promote  the  exportation  of  our 
manufactures,  and  increase  the  number  of  industrious 
23ersons  who  are  maintained  by  foreign  trade ;  if  this, 
I  say,  should  be  thought  too  grievous  for  a  company 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  83 

that  has  purchased  her  privileges  from  the  public  by  a 
large  loan  at  low  interest,  there  can  certainly  be  no 
objection  to  the  putting  this  project  into  the  hands  of 
the  Royal  African  Company,  who  are  not  quite  in  so 
flourishing  a  condition ;  they  have  equal  opportunities 
for  undertaking  it,  since  the  voyage  might  be  with 
great  ease  performed  from  their  settlements  in  ten 
montlis,  and  if  the  trade  was  found  to  answer,  it  might 
encourage  the  settling  a  colony  at  Madagascar  to  and 
from  which  ships  miglit,  with  the  greatest  conveniencyy 
carry  on  the  trade  to  New  Guinea.  I  cannot  say  how 
far  such  a  trade  might  be  consistent  with  their  present 
charter ;  but  if  it  should  be  found  advantageous  to  the 
public,  and  beneficial  to  the  company,  I  think  there  can 
be  no  reason  assigned  why  it  should  not  be  secured  to 
them,  and  that  too  in  the  most  effectual  manner. 

A  very  small  progress  in  it  would  restore  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  company,  and  in  time,  perhaps,  free  the 
nation  from  the  annual  expense  she  is  now  at,  for  the 
support  of  the  forts  and  garrisons  belonging  to  that 
company  on  the  coasts  of  Africa ;  wliich  would  alone 
prove  of  great  and  immediate  service,  both  to  the  public 
and  to  the  company.  To  say  the  truth,  something  of 
this  sort  is  absolutely  necessary  to  vindicate  the  expense 
the  nation  is  at ;  for  if  the  trade,  for  the  carrying  on 
of  which  a  company  is  established,  proves,  by  a  change 
of  circumstances,  incapable  of  supporting  that  company, 
and  thereby  brings  a  load  upon  the  public,  this  ought 
to  be  a  motive,  it  ought,  indeed,  to   be  the  strongest 


84  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

motive,  for  that  company  to  endeavour  the  extension  of 
its  commerce,  or  the  striking  out,  if  possible,  some  new 
branch  of  trade,  which  may  restore  it  to  its  former 
splendour ;  and  in  this  as  it  hath  an  apparent  right,  so 
there  is  not  the  least  reason  to  doubt  that  it  would 
meet  with  all  the  countenance  and  assistance  from  the 
government  that  it  could  reasonably  expect  or  desire. 

If  such  a  design  should  ever  be  attempted,  perhaps 
the  island  of  IS^ew  Britain  might  be  the  properest  place 
for  them  to  settle.  As  to  the  situation,  extent,  and 
present  condition  of  that  island,  all  that  can  be  said 
of  it  must  be  taken  from  the  account  given  by  its 
discoverer  Captain  Dampier,  which,  in  few  words, 
amounts  to  this :  "  The  island  which  I  call  Nova 
Britannia  has  a])0ut  4"^  of  latitude,  the  body  of  it  lying 
in  4°,  the  northernmost  part  in  2°  30',  and  the  southern- 
most in  6°  30'.  It  has  about  5°  18'  longitude  from 
east  to  west;  it  is  generally  high  mountainous  land, 
mixed  with  large  valleys,  which,  as  well  as  the 
mountains,  appeared  very  fertile ;  and  in  most  places 
tliat  we  saw  the  trees  are  very  large,  tall,  and  thick. 
It  is  also  very  well  inhabited  with  strong,  well-limbed 
negroes,  whom  we  found  very  daring  and  bold  at  several 
places :  as  to  the  product  of  it,  it  is  very  probable  this 
island  may  afford  as  many  rich  commodities  as  any  in 
the  world ;  and  the  natives  may  be  easily  brought  to 
■commerce,  though  I  could  not  pretend  to  it  in  my 
circumstances."  If  any  objections  should  be  raised 
from  Dampier's  misfortune  in  that  voyage,  it  is  easy 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  85 

to  show  that  it  ought  to  have  no  manner  of  weight 
whatever,  since,  though  he  was  an  excellent  pilot,  he  is 
allowed  to  have  been  but  a  bad  commander ;  besides, 
the  Roebuch,  in  which  he  sailed,  was  a  worn-out  frigate 
that  would  hardly  swim  ;  and  it  is  no  great  wonder 
that  in  so  crazy  a  vessel  the  people  were  a  little  im- 
patient at  being  abroad  on  discoveries ;  yet,  after  all, 
he  performed  what  he  was  sent  for;  and,  by  the 
discovery  of  this  island  of  ISTew  Britain,  secured  us  an 
indisputable  right  to  a  country,  that  is,  or  might  be 
made,  very  valuable. 

It  is  so  situated,  that  a  great  trade  might  be  carried 
on  from  thence  through  the  whole  Terra  Australis  on 
one  side,  and  the  most  valuable  islands  of  the  East 
Indies  on  tlie  other.  In  short,  all,  or  at  least  most,  of 
the  advantages  proposed  by  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company's  joining  with  their  East  India  Company,  of 
which  a  large  account  has  already  been  given,  might  be 
procured  for  this  nation,  by  the  establishing  a  colony 
in  this  island  of  New  Britain,  and  securing  the  trade  of 
that  colony  to  the  African  Company  by  law  ;  the  very 
passing  of  which  law  would  give  the  company  more 
than  sufficient  credit,  to  fit  out  a  squadron  at  once 
capable  of  securing  the  possession  of  that  island,  and 
of  giving  the  public  such  satisfaction  as  to  its  import- 
ance, as  might  be  requisite  to  obtain  further  poAver  and 
assistance  from  the  State,  if  that  should  be  found  neces- 
sary. It  would  be  very  easy  to  point  out  some  advan- 
tages peculiarly  convenient  for  that  company ;  but  it 


Ob  EAKLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES, 

will  be  time  enough,  to  think  of  these  whenever  the 
African  Company  shall  discover  an  inclination  to 
prosecute  this  design.  At  present  I  have  done  what  I 
proposed,  and  have  shown  that  such  a  collection  of 
voyages  as  this  ouglit  not  to  be  considered  as  a  work 
of  mere  amusement,  but  as  a  work  calculated  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind  in  general,  and  of  this  nation  in 
particular,  which  it  is  the  duty  of  every  man  to  pro- 
mote in  his  station  ;  and  whatever  fate  these  reflections 
may  meet  with,  I  shall  always  have  the  satisfaction  of 
remembering  that  I  have  not  neglected  it  in  mine,  but 
have  taken  the  utmost  pains  to  turn  a  course  of  labo- 
rious reading  to  the  advantage  of  my  country. 

But,  supposing  that  neither  of  these  companies 
should  think  it  expedient,  or,  in  other  words,  should 
not  think  it  consistent  with  their  interest  to  attempt 
this  discovery,  there  is  yet  a  third  company,  within  tlie 
spirit  of  whose  charter,  I  humbly  conceive,  the  prose- 
cution of  such  a  scheme  immediately  lies.  The  reader 
will  easily  discern  that  I  mean  the  company  for  carry- 
ing on  a  trade  to  the  South  Seas,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  extensiveness  of  their  charter,  confirmed  and  sup- 
ported by  authority  of  parliament,  have  not,  so  far  as 
my  information  reaches,  ever  attempted  to  send  so 
much  as  a  single  ship  for  the  sake  of  discoveries  into 
the  South  Seas,  which,  however,  was  the  great  point 
proposed  when  this  company  was  first  established.  In 
order  to  prove  this,  I  need  only  lay  before  the  reader 
the  limits  assigned  that  company  by  their  charter,  the 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  87 

substance    of    which   is   contained    in    the   following 
words  : — 

"  The  corporation,  and  their  successors,  shall,  for 
ever,  be  vested  in  the  sole  trade  into  and  from  all  the 
kingdoms  and  lands  on  the  east  side  of  America,  from 
the  River  Oroonoco,  to  the  southernmost  part  of  Terra 
del  Fuego,  and  on  the  west  side  thereof  from  the  said 
southernmost  part  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  through  the 
South  Sea,  to  the  northernmost  part  of  America,  and 
into  and  through  all  the  countries,  islands,  and  places 
within  the  said  limits,  which  are  reputed  to  belong  to 
Spain,  or  which  shall  hereafter  be  found  out  and  dis- 
covered within  the  limits  aforesaid,  not  exceeding  300 
leagues  from  the  continent  of  America,  between  the 
southernmost  part  of  the  Terra  del  Fuego  and  the 
northernmost  part  of  America,  on  the  said  west  side 
thereof,  except  the  Kingdom  of  Brazil,  and  such  other 
places  on  the  east  side  of  America,  as  are  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  King  of  Portugal,  and  the  country  of 
Surinam,  in  the  possession  of  the  States-general.  The 
said  company,  and  none  else,  are  to  trade  within  the 
said  limits ;  and,  if  any  other  persons  shall  trade  to  the 
South  Seas,  they  shall  forfeit  the  ship  and  goods,  and 
double  value,  one-fourth  part  to  the  crown,  and  another 
fourth  part  to  the  prosecutor,  and  the  other  two-fourths 
to  the  use  of  the  company.  And  the  company  shall  be 
the  sole  owners  of  the  islands,  forts,  etc.,  which  they 
shall  discover  within  the  said  limits,  to  be  held  of  the 
crown,  under  an  annual  rent  of  an  ounce  of  gold,  and 


88  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

of  all  ships  taken  as  prizes  by  the  ships  of  the  said 
company;  and  the  company  may  seize,  by  force  of 
arms,  all  other  British  ships  trading  in  those  seas." 

It  is,  I  think,  impossible  for  any  man  to  imagine 
that  either  these  limits  should  be  secured  to  the  com- 
pany for  no  purpose  in  the  Tvorld ;  or  that  these  pro- 
hibitions and  penalties  should  take  place,  notwithstand- 
ing the  company's  never  attempting  to  make  any  use 
of  these  powers  ;  from  whence  I  infer  that  it  was  the 
intent  of  the  legislature  that  new  discoveries  should  be 
made,  new  plantations  settled,  and  a  new  trade  carried 
on  by  this  new  corporation,  agreeable  to  the  rules  pre- 
scribed, and  for  the  general  benefit  of  this  nation  ; 
which  1  apprehend  was  chiefly  considered  in  the  pro- 
viding that  this  new  commerce  should  be  put  under 
the  management  of  a  particular  company.  But  I  am 
very  well  aware  of  an  objection  that  may  be  made  to 
what  I  have  advanced  ;  viz.,  that,  from  my  own  showing, 
this  southern  continent  lies  absolutely  without  their 
limits  ;  and  that  there  is  also  a  proviso  in  the  charter 
of  that  company  that  seems  particularly  calculated  to 
exclude  it,  since  it  recites  that 

"  The  agents  of  the  company  shall  not  sail  beyond 
the  soutliernmost  parts  of  Terra  del  Fuego,  except 
through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  or  round  Terra  del 
Fuego ;  nor  go  from  thence  to  any  part  of  the  East 
Indies,  nor  return  to  Great  Britain,  or  any  port  or  place, 
unless  through  the  said  straits,  or  by  Terra  del  Fuego : 
nor  shall  they  trade  in  East  India  goods,  or  in  any 


TASMAN  S   VOYAGE    OF   DISCOVERY.  b\) 

places  within  the  limits  grautecl  to  the  united  company 
of  merchants  of  Englaud  trading  to  East  India  (such 
India  goods  excepted  as  shall  be  actually  exported  from 
Great  Britain,  and  also  such  gold,  silver,  wrought 
plate,  and  other  goods  and  commodities,  which  are  the 
produce,  growth,  or  manufactures  of  the  West  Indies, 
or  continent  of  America)  :  neither  shaU.  they  send 
ships,  or  use  them  or  any  vessel,  within  the  South  Seas, 
from  Terra  del  Fuego  to  tlie  northernmost  parts  of 
America,  above  three  hundred  leagues  to  the  westward 
of,  and  distant  from  the  land  of  Chili,  Peru,  Mexico, 
California,  or  any  other  the  lands  or  shores  of  Southern 
or  Korthern  America,  between  Terra  del  Fuego  and 
the  northernmost  part  of  America,  on  pain  of  the  for- 
feiture of  the  ships  and  goods ;  one-third  to  the  crown, 
and  the  other  two-thirds  to  the  East  India  Company." 
But  the  reader  will  observe  that  I  mentioned  the 
East  India  and  African  Companies  before  ;  and  that  I 
now  mention  the  South  Sea  Company,  on  a  supposition 
that  the  two  former  may  refuse  it.  In  that  case,  I 
presume,  the  legislature  will  make  the  same  distinction 
that  the  States  of  Holland  did,  and  not  suffer  the 
private  advantage  of  any  particular  company  to  stand 
in  competition  with  the  good  of  a  whole  people.  It 
was  upon  this  principle  that  I  laid  it  down  as  a  thing 
certain,  that  the  African  company  would  be  allowed  to 
settle  the  island  of  Madagascar,  though  it  lies  within 
the  limits  of  the  East  India  Company's  charter,  in  case 
it  should  be  found  necessary  for  the  better  carrying  on 


90  EAELY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

of  this  trade.  It  is  upon  tlie  same  principle  I  say  this 
southern  continent  lies  within  the  intention  of  the 
South  Sea  Company's  charter,  because,  I  presume,  the 
intent  of  that  charter  was  to  grant  them  all  the  com- 
merce in  those  seas,  not  occupied  before  by  Britisli 
subjects ;  for,  if  it  were  otherwise,  what  a  condition 
should  we  be  in  as  a  maritime  power  ?  If  a  grant  does 
not  oblige  a  company  to  carry  on  a  trade  within  the 
limits  granted  to  that  company,  and  is,  at  the  same 
time,  of  force  to  preclude  all  the  subjects  of  this  nation 
from  the  right  they  before  had  to  carry  on  a  trade 
within  those  limits,  such  a  law  is  plainly  destructive 
to  the  nation's  interest  and  to  commerce  in  general.  I 
therefore  suppose,  that,  if  the  South  Sea  Company 
should  think  proper  to  revive  their  trade  in  the  manner 
I  propose,  this  proviso  would  be  explained  by  Parlia- 
ment to  mean  no  more  than  excluding  the  South  Sea 
Company  from  settling  or  trading  in  or  to  any  place 
at  present  settled  in  or  traded  to  by  the  East  India 
Company  :  for,  as  this  interpretation  would  secure  the 
just  rights  of  both  comj)anies,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
reconcile  the  laws  for  establishing  them  to  the  general 
interest  of  trade  and  the  nation,  there  is  the  greatest 
reason  to  believe  this  to  be  the  intention  of  the  legis- 
lature. I  have  been  obliged  to  insist  fully  upon  this 
matter,  because  it  is  a  point  hitlierto  untouched,  and  a 
point  of  such  high  importance,  that,  unless  it  be  under- 
stood according  to  my  sense  of  the  matter,  there  is  an 
end  of  all  hopes  of  extending  our  trade  on  this  side, 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  91 

which  is  perhaps  the  only  side  on  which  there  is  the 
least  probability  that  it  ever  can  be  extended ;  for,  as 
to  the  north-west  passage  into  the  South  Seas,  that 
seems  to  be  blocked  up  by  the  rights  of  another 
company  ;  so  that,  according  to  the  letter  of  our  laws, 
each  company  is  to  have  its  rights,  and  the  nation  in 
general  no  right  at  all. 

If,  therefore,  the  settling  of  this  part  of  Terra 
Australis  sliould  devolve  on  the  South  Sea  Company, 
by  way  of  equivalent  for  the  loss  of  their  Assiento 
contract,  there  is  no  sort  of  question  but  it  might  be  as 
well  performed  by  them  as  by  any  other,  and  tlie  trade 
carried  on  without  interfering  with  that  which  is  at 
present  carried  on,  either  by  the  East  India  or  African 
Companies.  It  would  indeed,  in  this  case,  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  settle  Juan  Fernandez,  the  settlement  of 
Avhich  place,  under  the  direction  of  that  company,  if 
they  could,  as  very  probably  they  might,  fall  into  some 
share  of  the  slave-trade  from  New  Guinea,  must  prove 
wonderfully  advantageous,  considering  the  opportunity 
they  would  have  of  vending  those  slaves  to  the 
Spaniards  in  Chili  and  Peru,  The  settling  of  this 
island  ought  to  be  performed  at  once,  and  with  a  com- 
petent force,  since,  without  doubt,  the  Spaniards  would 
leave  no  means  unattempted  to  dispossess  them  :  yet,  if 
a  good  fortification  was  once  raised,  tlie  passes  properly 
retrenched,  and  a  garrison  left  there  of  between  three 
and  five  hundred  men,  it  would  be  simply  impossible 
for  the  Spaniards  to  force  them  out  of  it  before  the 


92         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

arrival  of  another  squadron  from  hence.  Xeither  do  I 
see  any  reason  why,  in  the  space  of  a  very  few  years, 
the  plantation  of  this  island  should  not  prove  of  as 
^reat  consequence  to  the  South  Sea  Company  as  that 
of  Curacao  to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company,  who 
raise  no  less  than  sixty  thousand  florins  per  annum  for 
licensing  ships  to  trade  tliere. 

From  Juan  Fernandez  to  Yan  Diemen's  Land  is  not 
above  two  months'  sail ;  and  a  voyage  for  discovery 
might  be  very  conveniently  made  between  the  time 
that  a  squadron  returned  from  Juan  Fernandez,  and 
another  squadron's  arrival  there  from  hence.  It  is  true 
that,  if  once  a  considerable  settlement  was  made  in  the 
most  southern  part  of  Terra  Australis,  the  company 
might  then  fall  into  a  large  commerce  in  the  most 
valuable  East  India  goods,  very  probably  gold,  and 
spices  of  all  sorts  :  yet  I  cannot  think  that  even  these 
would  fall  within  the  exclusive  proviso  of  their  charter ; 
for  that  was  certainly  intended  to  hinder  their  trading 
in  such  goods  as  are  brought  hither  by  our  East  India 
Comx^any;  and  I  must  confess  I  see  no  difference, 
with  respect  to  the  interest  of  that  company,  between 
our  having  cloves,  cinnamon,  and  mace,  by  the  South 
Sea  Company's  ships  from  Juan  Fernandez,  and  our 
receiving  them  from  Holland,  after  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company's  ships  have  brought  them  thither 
by  the  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Sure  I  am 
they  would  come  to  us  sooner  by  some  months  by  the 
way  of  Cape  Horn.     If  this  reasoning  does  not  satisfy 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  93 

people,  but  they  still  remain  pcrsuadod  tliat  tlie  South 
Sea  Company  ought  not  to  intermeddle  with  the  East 
India  trade  at  all,  I  desire  to  know  why  the  West 
India  merchants  are  allowed  to  import  coffee  from 
Jamaica,  when  it  is  well  known  that  the  East  India 
Company  can  supply  the  whole  demand  of  this  king- 
dom from  Mocha  ?  If  it  be  answered  that  the 
Jamaica  coffee  comes  cheaper,  and  is  the  growth  of  our 
own  plantations,  I  reply,  that  these  spices  will  not 
only  be  cheaper,  but  better,  and  be  purchased  by  our 
own  manufacturers;  and  these,  I  think,  are  the 
strongest  reasons  that  can  be  given. 

If  it  be  demanded  what  certainty  I  have  that  spices 
can  be  had  from  thence,  I  answer,  all  the  certainty 
that  in  a  thing  of  this  nature  can  be  reasonably 
expected :  Ferdinand  de  Quiros  met  with  all  sorts  of 
spices  in  the  country  he  discovered ;  "William  Schovten, 
and  Jacques  le  Maire,  saw  ginger  and  nutmegs ;  so 
did  Dampier ;  and  the  author  of  Commodore  Rogge- 
wein's  Yoyage  asserts,  that  the  free  burgesses  of 
Amboyna  purchase  nutmegs  from  the  natives  of  New 
Guinea  for  bits  of  iron.  All,  tlierefore,  I  contend 
for,  is  that  these  bits  of  iron  may  be  sent  them  from 
Old  England. 

The  reason  I  recommend  settling  on  the  south  coast 
of  Terra  Australis,  if  this  design  should  be  prosecuted, 
from  Juan  Fernandez,  rather  than  the  island  of  New 
Britain,  wjiich  I  mentioned  before,  is,  because  that 
coast  is  nearer,  and  is  situated  in  a  better  and  pleasanter 


94         EAULY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

climate.  Besides  all  whicli  advantages,  as  it  was 
never  hitherto  visited  by  the  Dutch,  they  cannot,  with 
any  colour  of  justice,  take  umbrage  at  our  attempting 
such  a  settlement.  To  close  then  this  subject,  the  im- 
portance of  which  alone  inclined  me  to  spend  so  much 
of  mine  and  the  reader's  time  about  it : 

It  is  most  evident,  that,  if  such  a  settlement  was 
made  at  Juan  Fernandez,  proper  magazines  erected, 
and  a  constant  correspondence  established  between 
that  island  and  the  Terra  Australis,  these  three 
consequences  must  absolutely  follow  from  thence : 
1.  That  a  new  trade  would  be  opened,  which  must 
carry  off  a  great  quantity  of  our  goods  and  manufac- 
tures, that  cannot,  at  present,  be  brought  to  any  mar- 
ket, or  at  least,  not  to  so  good  a  market  as  if  there 
was  a  greater  demand  for  them.  2.  It  would  render 
this  navigation,  which  is  at  present  so  strange,  and 
consequently  so  terrible,  to  us,  easy  and  familiar ; 
which  might  be  attended  with  advantages  that  cannot 
be  foreseen,  especially  since  there  is,  as  I  before  ob- 
served, in  all  probability  another  southern  continent, 
which  is  still  to  be  discovered.  3.  It  would  greatly 
increase  our  shipping  and  our  seamen,  which  are  the 
true  and  natui-al  strength  of  this  country,  extend  our 
naval  power,  and  raise  the  reputation  of  this  nation; 
the  most  distant  prospect  of  which  is  sufficient  to  warm 
the  soul  of  any  man  who  has  the  least  regard  for  his 
country,  with  courage  sufficient  to  despise  the  impu- 
tations that  may  be  thrown  upon  him  as  a  visionary 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  95 

projector,  for  taking  so  much  pains  about  an  affair 
that  can  tend  so  little  to  his  private  advantage.  We 
will  now  add  a  few  words  with  respect  to  the  advan- 
tages arising  from  having  thus  digested  the  history  of 
circumnavigators,  from  the  earliest  account  of  time  to 
the  present,  and  then  shut  up  the  whole  with  another 
section,  containing  the  last  circumnavigation  by  Rear- 
Admiral  Anson,  whose  voyage  has  at  least  shown  that, 
under  a  proper  officer,  English  seamen  are  able  to 
achieve  as  much  as  they  ever  did ;  and  that  is  as  much 
as  was  ever  done  by  any  nation  in  the  world. 

It  is  a  point  that  has  always  admitted  some  debate, 
whether  science  stands  more  indebted  to  speculation  or 
practice ;  or,  in  other  words,  whether  the  greater  dis- 
coveries have  been  made  by  men  of  deep  study,  or 
persons  of  great  experience  in  the  most  useful  parts  of 
knowledge.  But  this,  I  think,  is  a  proposition  that 
admits  of  no  dispute  at  all,  that  the  noblest  discoveries 
have  been  the  result  of  a  just  mixture  of  theory  with 
practice.  It  was  from  hence  that  the  very  notion  of 
sailing  roimd  the  earth  took  rise ;  and  the  ingenious 
Genoese  first  laid  down  this  system  of  the  world, 
according  to  his  conception,  and  then  added  the  proofs 
derived  from  experience.  It  is  much  to  be  deplored 
that  we  have  not  that  plan  of  discovery  which  the 
great  Christopher  Columbus  sent  over  thither  by  his 
brother  Bartholomew  to  King  Henry  YII.,  for  if  we 
had  we  should  certainly  find  abundance  of  very  curious 
observations,  which  might  still  be  useful  to  mariners  : 


9Q  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

for  it  appears  clearly,  from  many  little  circumstances, 
that  lie  was  a  person  of  universal  genius,  and,  until 
bad  usage  obliged  him  to  take  many  precautions,  very 
communicative. 

It  was  from  this  plan,  as  it  had  been  communicated 
to  the  Portuguese  court,  that  the  famous  Magellan 
came  to  have  so  just  notions  of  the  possibility  of 
sailing  by  the  AVest  to  the  East  Indies ;  and  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  theory  in  the  proposal  made  by  that 
great  man  to  the  Emperor  Charles  Y.  Sir  Francis 
Drake  was  a  person  of  the  same  genius,  and  of  a  like 
general  knowledge ;  and  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
these  three  great  seamen  met  also  with  the  same  fate  ; 
by  which  I  mean,  that  they  were  constantly  pursued 
by  envy  while  they  lived,  which  hindered  so  much 
notice  being  taken  of  their  discourses  and  discoveries 
as  they  deserved.  But  when  the  experience  of  suc- 
ceeding times  had  verified  many  of  their  sayings, 
which  had  been  considered  as  vain  and  empty  boastings 
in  their  lifetimes,  then  prosperity  began  to  pay  a  super- 
stitious regard  to  whatever  could  be  collected  con- 
cerning them,  and  to  admire  all  they  delivered  as 
oraculous.  Our  other  discoverer,  Candish,  was  like- 
wise a  man  of  great  parts  and  great  penetration,  as 
well  as  of  great  spirit ;  he  had,  undoubtedly,  a  mighty 
genius  for  discoveries ;  but  the  prevailing  notion  of 
those  times,  that  the  only  way  to  serve  the  nation  was 
plundering  the  Spaniards,  seems  to  have  got  the  better 
of  his  desire  to  find  out  unknown  countries  ;  and  made 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  97 

him  clioose  to  be  known  to  posterity  ratlier  as  a  gal- 
lant privateer  tlian  as  an  able  seaman,  though  in  truth 
he  was  both. 

After  these  follow  Schovten  and  Le  Maire,  who  were 
fitted  out  to  make  discoveries ;  and  executed  their  com- 
mission with  equal  capacity  and  success.  If  Le  Maire 
had  lived  to  return  to  Holland,  and  to  have  digested 
into  proper  order  his  own  accounts,  we  should,  without 
question,  have  received  a  much  fuller  and  clearer,  as 
well  as  a  much  more  correct  and  satisfactory  detail  of 
them  than  we  have  at  present :  though  the  voyage,  as 
it  is  now  published,  is  in  all  respects  the  best,  and  the 
most  curious  of  all  tlie  circumnavigators.  This  was, 
very  probably,  owing  to  the  ill-usage  he  met  with  from 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company;  which  put  Captain 
Schovten,  and  the  relations  of  Le  Maire,  upon  giving 
the  world  the  best  information  they  could  of  what  had 
been  in  that  voyage  performed.  Yet  the  fate  of  Le 
Maire  had  a  much  greater  effect  in  discouraging,  than 
the  fame  of  his  discoveries  had  in  exciting,  a  spirit  of 
emulation  ;*so  that  we  may  safely  say,  the  severity  of 
the  East  India  Company  in  Holland  extiuguislied  that 
generous  desire  of  exploring  unknown  lands,  which 
might  otherwise  have  raised  the  reputation  and  ex- 
tended the  commerce  of  the  republic  much  beyond  what 
tliey  have  hitherto  reached.  This  is  so  true  that  for  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  years  we  hear  of  no  Dutch  voyage 
in  pursuit  of  Le  Maire's  discoveries;  and  we  see, 
when  Commodore  Roggewein,  in  our  own  time,  revived 
D— 43 


»8         EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

that  noble  design,  it  was  again  cramped  by  the  same 
power  that  stifled  it  before  ;  and  though  the  States 
did  justice  to  the  West  India  Company,  and  to  the 
]>arties  injured,  yet  the  hardships  they  suffered,  and 
the  plain  proof  they  gave  of  the  difficulties  that  must 
be  met  with  in  the  prosecution  of  snch  a  design,  seem 
to  have  done  the  business  of  the  East  India  Company, 
and  damped  the  spirit  of  discovery,  for  perhaps  another 
century,  in  Holland. 

It  is  very  observable  that  all  the  mighty  discoveries 
t  lat  have  been  made  arose  from  these  great  men,  who 
joined  reasoning  with  practice,  and  were  men  of 
genius  and  learning,  as  well  as  seamen.  To  Columbus 
we  owe  the  finding  America;  to  Magellan  the  passing 
by  the  straits  which  bear  his  name,  by  a  new  route  to 
the  East  Indies;  to  Le  Maire  a  more  commodious 
passage  round  Cape  Horn,  and  without  running  up  to 
California ;  Sir  Francis  Drake,  too,  hinted  the  advan- 
tages that  might  arise  by  examining  the  north-west 
side  of  America;  and  Candish  had  some  notions  of 
discovering  a  passage  between  China  and  Japan.  As 
to  the  history  we  have  of  Roggewein's  voyage,  it 
affords  such  lights  as  nothing  but  our  own  negligence 
can  render  useless.  But  in  the  other  voyages,  what- 
ever discoveries  we  meet  with  are  purely  accidental, 
except  it  be  Dampier's  voyage  to  the  coasts  of  Xew 
Holland  and  New  Guinea,  which  was  expressly  made 
for  discoveries;  and  in  which,  if  an  abler  man  had 
been  employed  in  conjimction  with  Dampier,  we  can- 


tasman's  voyage  of  discoveey.  99 

not  doubt  that  the  interior  and  exterior  of  tliose 
countries  would  have  been  much  better  iinown  than 
they  are  at  present;  because  sucli  a  person  would 
rather  have  chosen  to  have  refreshed  in  the  island  of 
Xew  Britain,  or  some  other  country  not  visited  before, 
than  at  that  of  Timor,  already  settled  both  by  the 
Portuguese  and  the  Dutch. 

In  all  attempts,  therefore,  of  tliis  sort,  those  men 
are  fittest  to  be  employed  who,  with  competent  abili- 
ties as  seamen,  have  likewise  general  capacities,  are  at 
least  tolerably  acquainted  with  other  sciences,  and 
have  settled  judgments  and  solid  understandings. 
These  are  the  men  from  whom  we  are  to  expect  the 
finishing  that  great  work  which  former  circamnavi ga- 
tors have  begun;  I  mean  the  discovering  every  part 
and  parcel  of  the  globe,  and  the  carrying  to  its  utmost 
perfection  the  admirable  and  useful  science  of  naviga- 
tion. 

It  is,  however,  a  piece  of  justice  due  to  the  memory 
of  these  great  men,  to  acknowledge  that  we  are  equally 
encouraged  by  their  examples  and  guided  by  their  dis- 
coveries. We  owe  to  them  the  being  freed,  not  only 
from  the  errors,  but  from  the  doubts  and  difficulties 
with  which  former  ages  were  oppressed  ;  to  them  we 
stand  indebted  for  the  discovery  of  the  best  part  of 
the  world,  which  was  entirely  unknown  to  the  ancients, 
particularly  some  part  of  the  eastern,  most  of  the 
southern,  and  all  the  western  liemis]5here ;  from  them 
we  have  learned  tliat  the  earth  is  surrounded  by  the 


100        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

ocean,  and  that  all  the  countries  under  tlie  torrid  zone 
are  inhabited,  and  that,  quite  contrary  to  tlie  notions 
that  were  formerly  entertained,  they  are  very  far  from 
being  the  most  sultry  climate  in  the  world,  those 
within  a  few  degrees  of  the  tropics,  though  habitable, 
being  much  more  hot,  for  reasons  which  have  been 
elsewhere  explained.  By  their  voyages,  and  especially 
by  the  observations  of  Columbus,  we  have  been  taught 
the  general  motion  of  the  sea,  the  reason  of  it,  and  the 
cause  and  difference  of  currents  in  particular  places, 
to  which  we  may  add  the  doctrine  of  tides,  which  were 
very  imperfectly  known,  even  by  the  greatest  men  in 
former  times,  whose  accounts  have  been  found  equally 
repugnant  to  reason  and  experience. 

By  their  observations  we  have  acquired  a  great 
knowledge  as  to  the  nature  and  variation  of  winds, 
particularly  the  monsoons,  or  trade  winds,  and  other 
periodical  winds,  of  which  the  ancients  had  not  the 
least  conception  ;  and  by  these  helps  we  not  only  have 
it  in  our  power  to  proceed  much  farther  in  our  dis- 
coveries, but  we  are  likewise  delivered  from  a  multi- 
tude of  groundless  apprehensions,  that  frightened  them 
from  prosecuting  discoveries.  "We  give  no  credit  now 
to  the  fables  that  not  only  amused  antiquity,  but  even 
obtained  credit  within  a  few  generations.  The 
authority  of  Pliny  will  not  persuade  us  that  there  are 
any  nations  without  heads,  whose  eyes  and  mouths  are 
in  their  breasts,  or  that  the  Arimaspi  have  only  one 
eye,  fixed  in  their  forehead,  and  that  they  are  perpetu- 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  101 

ally  at  war  with  the  Griffins,  Avho  griard  hidden 
treasnres ;  or  that  there  are  nations  that  have  long 
hairy  tales,  and  grin  like  monkeys.  No  traveller  can 
make  ns  believe  that,  under  the  torrid  zone,  there  are  a 
nation  every  man  of  which  has  one  large  flat  foot,  with 
which,  lying  upon  his  back,  he  covers  himself  from  the 
sun.  In  this  respect  we  have  the  same  advantage  over 
the  ancients  that  men  have  over  children  ;  and  we  can- 
not reflect  without  amazement  on  men's  having  so  much 
knowledge  and  learning  in  other  respects,  with  such 
childish  understandings  in  these. 

By  the  labours  of  these  great  men  in  the  two  last 
centuries  we  are  taught  to  know  what  we  seek,  and 
how  it  is  to  be  sought.  We  know,  for  example,  what 
parts  of  the  north  are  yet  undiscovered,  and  also  what 
parts  of  the  south.  We  can  form  a  very  certain  judg- 
ment of  the  climate  of  countries  undiscovered,  and  can 
foresee  the  advantages  that  will  result  from  discoveries 
before  they  are  made ;  all  which  are  prodigious  ad. 
vantages,  and  ouglit  certainly  to  animate  us  in  our 
searches.  I  might  add  to  this  the  great  benefits  we 
receive  from  our  more  perfect  acquaintance  with  thn 
properties  of  the  loadstone,  and  from  the  surprising 
accuracy  of  astronomical  observations,  to  which  I  may 
add  the  physical  discoveries  made  of  late  years  in 
relation  to  the  figure  of  the  earth,  all  of  which  are 
the  result  of  the  liglits  v^-hich  tliesc  great  men  have 
given  us. 

It  is  true  tliat  some  of  the  zealous  defenders  of  the 


102  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

ancients,  and  some  of  the  great  admirers  of  the  Eastern 
nations,  dispute  these  facts,  and  would  have  us  believe 
that  almost  everything  was  known  to  the  old  philo- 
sophers, and  not  only  known  but  practised  by  the 
Chinese  long  before  the  time  of  tlie  great  men  to  whom 
we  ascribe  them.  But  the  difference  between  their 
assertions"  and  ours  is,  that  we  fully  prove  the  facts 
we  allege,  whereas  they  produce  no  evidence  at  all ; 
for  instance,  Albertus  Magnus  says  that  Aristotle 
wrote  an  express  treatise  on  the  direction  of  the  load- 
stone ;  but  nobody  ever  saw  that  treatise,  nor  was  it 
ever  heard  of  by  any  of  the  rest  of  his  commentators. 
We  have  in  our  hands  some  of  the  best  performances 
of  antiquity  in  regard  to  geography,  and  any  man  who 
has  eyes,  and  is  at  all  acquainted  with  that  science,  can 
very  easily  discern  how  far  they  fall  short  of  maps 
that  were  made  even  a  hundred  years  ago.  The 
celebrated  Yossius,  and  the  rest  of  the  admirers  of  the 
Chinese,  who,  by  the  way,  derived  all  their  knowledge 
from  hearsay,  may  testify,  in  as  strong  terms  as  they 
think  fit,  their  contempt  for  the  Western  sages  and 
their  high  opinion  of  those  in  the  East ;  but  till  they 
prove  to  us  that  their  favourite  Chinese  made  any 
voyages  comparable  to  tlie  Europeans,  before  the  dis- 
covery of  a  passage  to  China  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  they  will  excuse  us  from  believing  them.  Be- 
sides, if  the  ancients  had  all  this  knowledge,  how  came  it 
not  to  display  itself  in  their  performances  ?  How  came 
they  to  make  such  difficulties  of  what  are  now  esteemed 


tasman's  voyage  of  discovery.  103 

trifles  ?  And  how  came  tliey  never  to  make  any 
voyages,  by  choice  at  least,  that  were  out  of  sight  of 
landP  Again,  with  respect  to  the  Chinese,  if  they 
excel  us  so  much  in  knowledge,  how  came  the  mission- 
aries to  be  so  much  admired  for  their  superior  skill  in 
the  sciences  ?  But  to  cut  the  matter  short,  we  are  not 
disputing  now  about  speculative  points  of  science,  but 
as  to  the  practical  application  of  it ;  in  which,  I  think, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  modern  inhabitants  of  the 
western  parts  of  the  world  excel,  and  excel  chiefly  from 
the  labours  and  discoveries  of  these  great  and  ingenious 
men,  who  applied  their  abilities  to  the  improvement  of 
useful  arts,  for  the  particular  beneflt  of  their  country- 
men, and  to  the  common  good  of  mankind ;  which 
character  is  not  derived  from  any  prejudice  of  ours, 
either  against  the  ancients  or  the  Oriental  nations,  but 
is  founded  on  facts  of  public  notoriety,  and  on  general 
experience,  which  are  a  kind  of  evidence  not  to  be  con- 
troverted or  contradicted. 

We  are  still,  however,  in  several  respects  short  of 
perfection,  and  there  are  many  things  left  to  exercise 
the  sagacity,  penetration,  and  application  of  this  and  of 
succeeding  ages;  for  instance,  the  passages  to  the 
north-east  and  north-west  are  yet  unknown ;  there  is  a 
great  part  of  the  southern  continent  undiscovered ;  we 
are,  in  a  manner,  ignorant  of  what  lies  between 
America  and  Japan,  and  all  beyond  that  country  lies 
buried  in  obscurity,  porliaps  in  greater  obscurity  than 
it  was  an  age  ago  ;  so  that  there  is  still  room  for  per- 


104  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES: 

forming  great  things,  which  in  their  consequences 
perhaps  might  prove  greater  than  can  well  be  imagined. 
I  say  nothing  of  the  discoveries  that  yet  remain  with 
regard  to  inland  countries,  because  these  fall  properly 
under  anotlier  head,  I  mean  that  of  travels.  But  it  will 
be  time  enough  to  think  of  penetrating  into  the  heart  of 
countries  when  we  have  discovered  the  sea-coasts  of 
the  whole  globe,  towards  which  the  voyages  recorded 
in  this  chapter  haA^e  so  far  advanced  already.  But  the 
only  means  to  arrive  at  these  great  ends,  and  to  trans- 
mit to  posterity  a  fame  approaching,  at  least  in  some 
measure,  to  that  of  our  ancestors,  is  to  revive  and 
restore  that  glorious  spirit  which  led  them  to  such  great 
exploits ;  and  the  most  natural  method  of  doing  this  is 
to  collect  and  preserve  the  memory  of  their  exploits, 
that  they  may  serve  at  once  to  excite  our  imitation, 
encourage  our  endeavours,  and  point  out  to  us  how 
they  may  be  best  employed,  and  with  the  greatest 
probability  of  success. 


AN   ACCOUNT  OF  NEW  HOLLAND  AND 
THE   ADJACENT   ISLANDS. 

1699—1700. 
BY    CAPTAIN    WILLIAM    DAMPIER. 

Having  described  his  voyage  from  Brazil  to  New 
Holland,  this  celebrated  navigator  thus  proceeds  : 

About  the  latitude  of  26^  south  we  saw  an  opening, 
and  ran  in,  hoping  to  find  a  harbour  there  ;  but  when  we 
came  to  its  mouth,  which  was  about  two  leagues  wide, 
we  saw  rocks  and  foul  ground  within,  and  therefore 
stood  out  again ;  there  we  had  twenty  fathom  water 
within  two  miles  of  the  shore :  the  land  everywhere 
appeared  pretty  low,  flat,  and  even,  but  with  steep 
cliffs  to  the  sea,  and  when  we  came  near  it  there  were 
no  trees,  shrubs,  or  grass  to  be  seen.  Tlie  soundings 
in  the  latitude  of  26°  south,  from  about  eight  or  nine 
leagues  off  till  you  come  within  a  league  of  the  shore, 
are  generally  about  forty  fathoms,  differing  but  little, 
seldom  above  three  or  four  fathoms ;  but  the  lead 
brings  up  very  different  sorts  of  sand,  some  coarse, 
some  fine,  and  of  seA^eral  colours,  as  yellow,  white,  grey, 
brown,  bluish,  and  reddish. 

"When  I  saw  there  was  no  harbour  here,  nor  good 
anchoring,  I  stood  off  to  sea  again  in  tlie  evening  of 


106  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

the  2nd  of  August,  fearing  a  storm  on  a  lee-shore,  in  a 
place  where  there  was  no  shelter,  and  desiring  at  least 
to  have  sea-room,  for  the  clouds  began  to  grow  thick 
in  the  western-board,  and  the  wind  was  already  there, 
and  began  to  blow  fresh  almost  upon  the  shore,  which 
at  this  place  lies  along  north-north-west  and  south- 
south-east.  By  nine  o'clock  at  night  we  got  a  pretty 
good  offing,  but  the  wind  still  increasing,  I  took  in  my 
main-top-sail,  being  able  to  carry  no  more  sail  than  two 
courses  and  the  mizen.  At  two  in  the  morning. 
August  3rd,  it  blew  very  hard,  and  the  sea  was  much 
raised,  so  that  I  furled  all  my  sails  but  my  mainsail, 
though  the  wind  blew  so  hard,  we  had  pretty  clear 
weather  till  noon,  but  then  the  whole  sky  was  blackened 
with  thick  clouds,  and  we  had  some  rain,  which  would 
last  a  quarter  of  an  hour  at  a  time,  and  then  it  would 
blow  very  fierce  while  the  squalls  of  rain  were  over  our 
heads,  but  as  soon  as  they  were  gone  the  wind  was  by 
much  abated,  the.  stress  of  the  storm  being  over;  we 
sounded  several  times,  but  had  no  ground  till  eight 
o'clock,  August  the  4th,  in  the  evening,  and  then  had 
sixty  fathom  water,  coral  ground.  At  ten  we  had 
fifty-six  fathom,  fine  sand.  At  twelve  we  had  fifty-five 
fathom,  fine  sand,  of  a  pale  bluish  colour.  It  was  now 
pretty  moderate  weather,  yet  I  made  no  sail  till  morn- 
ing, but  then  the  wind  veering  alwut  to  the  south-west, 
I  made  sail  and  stood  to  the  north,  and  at  eleven  o'clock 
the  next  day,  August  5th,  we  saw  land  again,  at  about 
ten  leagues  distant.     This  noon  we  were  in  latitude 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       107 

25°  30',  and  in  the  afternoon  our  cook  died,  an  old 
man,  wlio  liad  been  sick  a  great  while,  being  infirm 
before  we  came  out  of  England. 

The  6th  of  August,  in  the  morning,  we  saw  an 
opening  in  the  land,  and  we  ran  into  it,  and  anchored 
in  seven  and  a  half  fatliom  water,  two  miles  from  the 
shore,  clean  sand.  It  was  somewhat  difficult  getting 
in  here,  by  reason  of  many  shoals  we  met  with ;  but  I 
sent  my  boat  sounding  before  me.  The  mouth  of  this 
sound,  which  I  called  Shark's  Bay,  lies  in  about 
25°  south  latitude,  and  our  reckoning  made  its  longi- 
tude from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  be  about  87°, 
which  is  less  by  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  leagues 
than  is  usually  laid  down  in  our  common  draughts,  if 
our  reckoning  was  right  and  our  glasses  did  not 
deceive  us.  As  soon  as  I  came  to  anchor  in  this  bay,  I 
sent  my  boat  ashore  to  seek  for  fresh  water,  but  in  the 
evening  my  men  returned,  having  found  none.  The 
next  morning  I  went  ashore  myself,  carrying  pickaxes 
and  shovels  with  me,  to  dig  for  water,  and  axes  to  cut 
wood.  We  tried  in  several  places  for  water,  but  finding 
none  after  several  trials,  nor  in  several  miles  compass, 
we  left  any  further  search  for  it,  and  spending  the  rest 
of  the  day  in  cutting  wood,  we  went  aboard  at  night. 

The  land  is  of  an  indifferent  height,  so  that  it  may 
be  seen  nine  or  ten  leagues  off.  It  appears  at  a  distance 
very  even ;  but  as  you  come  nigher  you  find  there  are 
many  gentle  risings,  though  none  steep  or  high.  It  is 
all  a  steep  shore  against  the  open  sea ;  but  in  this  bay 


108  EAELY   AUSTRAI.IAN   VOYAGES. 

or  souud  we  were  now  iu,  the  laud  is  low  hj  the  seaside, 
rising  gradually  iu  with  the  laud.  The  mould  is  sand 
by  the  seaside,  producing  a  large  sort  of  samphire, 
which  bears  a  Avhite  flower.  Farther  in  the  mould  is 
reddish,  a  sort  of  sand,  producing  some  grass,  plants, 
and  slirub.^.  The  grass  grows  in  great  tufts  as  big  as 
a  bushel,  here  and  there  a  tuft,  being  intermixed  with 
much  heath,  much  of  the  kind  we  have  growing  on  our 
commons  in  England.  Of  trees  or  shrubs  liere  are 
divers  sorts,  but  none  above  ten  feet  high,  their  bodies 
about  three  feet  about,  and  five  or  six  feet  high  before 
you  come  to  the  branches,  which  are  bushy,  and 
composed  of  small  twigs  there  spreading  abroad,  though 
thick  set  and  full  of  leaves,  which  were  mostly  long 
and  narrow.  The  colour  of  the  leaves  was  on  one  side 
whitish,  and  on  the  other  green,  and  the  bark  of  the 
trees  was  generally  of  the  same  colour  with  the  leaves, 
of  a  pale  green.  Some  of  these  trees  were  sweet- 
scented,  and  reddish  within  the  bark,  like  sassafras, 
but  redder.  Most  of  the  trees  and  shrubs  had  at  this 
time  either  blossoms  or  berries  on  them.  The  blossoms 
of  the  diiferent  sorts  of  trees  were  of  several  colours, 
as  red,  white,  yellow,  etc.,  but  mostly  blue,  and  these 
generally  smelt  very  sweet  and  fragrant,  as  did  some 
also  of  the  rest.  There  were  also  besides  some  plants, 
h'irbs,  and  tall  flowers,  some  very  small  flowers  growing 
on  the  ground,  that  were  sweet  and  beautiful,  and,  for 
the  most  part,  unlike  any  I  had  seen  elsewhere. 

There  were  but  few  land  fowls.     We  saw  none  but 


DAMPIER'S   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       109 

eagles  of  the  larger  sorts  of  birds,  but  five  or  six  sorts 
of  small  birds.  The  biggest  sort  of  these  were  not 
bigger  than  larks,  some  no  bigger  than  wrens,  all 
singing  with  great  variety  of  fine  shrill  notes ;  and  we 
saw  some  of  their  nests  with  young  ones  in  them.  The 
water-fowls  are  ducks  (which  had  young  ones  now,  this 
being  the  beginning  of  the  spring  in  these  parts), 
curlews,  galdens,  crab-catchers,  cormorants,  gulls,  peli- 
cans, and  some  water-fowl,  such  as  I  have  not  seen 
anywhere  besides. 

The  land  animals  that  we  saw  here  were  only  a  sort 
of  raccoons,  different  from  those  of  the  West  Indies, 
chiefly  as  to  their  legs,  for  these  have  very  short  fore- 
legs, but  go  jumping  upon  them  as  the  others  do  (and 
like  them  are  very  good  meat),  and  a  sort  of  giianos,  of 
the  same  shape  and  size  with  other  guanos  described, 
but  differing  from  them  in  three  remarkable  par- 
ticulars ;  for  these  had  a  larger  and  uglier  head,  and 
had  no  tail,  and  at  the  rump,  instead  of  the  tail  there, 
they  had  a  stump  of  a  tail,  wliich  appeared  like  another 
head,  but  not  really  such,  being  without  mouth  or 
eyes ;  yet  this  creature  seemed  by  this  means  to  have  a 
liead  at  each  end,  and,  which  may  be  reckoned  a  fourth 
difference,  the  legs  also  seemed  all  four  of  them  to  be 
fore-legs,  being  all  alike  in  shape  and  length,  and 
seeming  by  the  joints  and  bending  to  be  made  as  if 
they  were  to  go  indifferently  either  head  or  tail  fore- 
most. They  were  speckled  black  and  yellow  like  toads, 
and  had  scales  or  knobs  on  their  backs  like  those  of 


110        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

crocodiles,  plated  on  to  the  skin,  or  stuck  into  it,  as 
part  of  tlie  skin.  They  are  very  slow  in  motion,  and 
when  a  man  comes  nigh  them  they  will  stand  still  and 
hiss ,  not  endeavouring  to  get  away.  Their  livers  are 
also  spotted  black  and  yellow;  and  the  body,  when 
opened,  hath  a  very  unsavoury  smell.  I  did  never  see 
such  ugly  creatures  anywhere  but  here.  The  guanos  I 
have  observed  to  be  very  good  meat,  and  I  have  often 
eaten  of  them  with  pleasure ;  but  though  I  have  eaten 
of  snakes,  crocodiles,  and  alligators,  and  many  creatures 
that  look  frightfully  enough,  and  there  are  but  few  I 
should  have  been  afraid  to  eat  of  if  pressed  by  hunger, 
yet  I  think  my  stomach  would  scarce  have  served  to 
venture  upon  these  New  Holland  guanos,  both  the 
looks  and  the  smell  of  them  being  so  offensive. 

The  sea-fish  that  we  saw  here  (for  here  was  no  river, 
land  or  pond  of  fresh  water  to  be  seen)  are  chiefly 
sharks.  There  are  abundance  of  them  in  this  particular 
sound,  that  1  therefore  gave  it  the  name  of  Shark's 
Bay.  Here  are  also  skates,  thornbacks,  and  other  fish 
of  the  ray  kind  (one  sort  especially  like  the  sea-devil), 
and  gar-fish,  bonetas,  etc.  Of  shell-fish  we  got  here 
mussels,  periwinkles,  limpets,  oysters,  both  of  the  pearl 
kind  and  also  eating  oysters,  as  well  the  common  sort 
as  long  oysters,  besides  cockles,  etc.  The  shore  was 
lined  thick  with  many  other  sorts  of  very  strange  and 
beautiful  shells  for  variety  of  colour  and  shape,  most 
finely  spotted  with  red,  black,  or  yellow,  etc.,  such  as  I 
have  not  seen  anywhere  but  at  this  place.     I  brought 


DAMPIEE'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       Ill 

away  a  great  many  of  tlieiP,  b  it  lost  all  except  a  very 
few,  aud  tliose  not  of  tlie  best. 

There  are  also  some  green  turtle  weighing  about  two 
hundred  pounds.  Of  these  we  caught  two,  which  the 
water  ebbing  had  left  behind  a  ledge  of  rock  which  they 
could  not  creep  over.  These  served  all  my  company 
two  days,  and  they  were  indifferent  sweet  meat.  Of  the 
sharks  we  caught  a  great  many,  wliicli  our  men  ate 
very  savourily.  Among  them  we  caught  one  which 
was  eleven  feet  long.  The  space  between  its  two  eyes 
was  twenty  inches,  and  eighteen  inches  from  one 
corner  of  his  mouth  to  the  other.  Its  maw  was  like  a 
leather  sack,  very  thick,  and  so  tough  that  a  sharp 
knife  could  scarce  cut  it,  in  which  we  found  the  head 
aud  bones  of  a  hippopotamus,  the  hairy  lips  of  which 
were  still  sound  and  not  putrified,  and  the  jaw  was  also 
firm,  out  of  which  we  plucked  a  great  many  teeth,  two 
of  them  eight  inches  long  and  as  big  as  a  man's  thumb, 
small  at  one  end,  and  a  little  crooked,  the  rest  not 
above  half  so  long.  The  maw  was  full  of  jelly,  which 
stank  extremely.  However,  I  saved  for  awhile  the 
teeth  and  the  shark's  jaw.  The  flesh  of  it  was  divided 
among  my  men,  aud  they  took  care  that  no  waste 
should  be  made  of  it. 

It  was  the  7th  of  August  when  we  came  into  Shark's 
Bay,  in  which  we  ancliored  at  three  several  places,  and 
stayed  at  the  first  of  them  (on  the  west  side  of  the  bay) 
till  the  11th,  during  which  time  we  searched  about,  as 
I   said,   for   fresh   water,   digging   wells,    but    to    no 


112  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

purpose.  However,  we  cut  good  store  of  firewood  at 
this  first  anchoring-place,  and  my  company  were  all 
here  very  well  refreshed  with  raccoons,  turtle,  shark, 
and  other  fish,  and  some  fowls,  so  that  we  were  now  all 
much  brisker  than  when  we  came  in  hither.  Tet  still 
I  was  for  standing  farther  into  the  bay,  partly  because 
I  had  a  mind  to  increase  my  stock  of  fresh  water,  which 
was  begun  to  be  low,  and  partly  for  the  sake  of  dis- 
covering this  part  of  the  coast.  I  was  invited  to  go 
further  by  seeing  from  this  anchoring-place  all  open 
before  me,  which  therefore  I  designed  to  search  before 
I  left  the  bay.  So  on  the  11th  about  noon  I  steered 
further  in,  with  an  easy  sail,  because  we  had  but 
shallow  water.  We  kept,  therefore,  good  looking  out 
for  fear  of  shoals,  sometimes  shortening,  sometimes 
deepening  the  water.  About  two  in  the  afternoon  we 
saw  the  land  ahead  that  makes  the  south  of  the  bay, 
and  before  night  we  had  again  shoidings  from  that 
shore,  and  therefore  shortened  sail  and  stood  off  and  on 
all  night,  under  two  topsails,  continually  sounding, 
having  never  more  than  ten  fathom,  and  seldom  less 
than  seven.  The  water  deepened  and  sholdened  so  very 
gently,  that  in  heaving  the  lead  five  or  six  times  we 
should  scarce  have  a  fooi  difference.  When  we  came 
into  seven  fathom  either  way,  we  presently  went 
about.  From  this  south  part  of  the  bay  we  could  not 
see  the  land  from  whence  we  came  in  the  afternoon  ; 
and  this  land  we  found  to  be  an  island  of  three  or  four 
leagues  long ;  but  it  appearing  barren,  I  did  not  strive 


DAMPIEE's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       113 

to  go  nearer  it,  and  the  ratlier  because  the  winds  would 
not  permit  us  to  do  it  without  much  trouble,  and  at  the 
openings  the  water  was  generally  shoal :  I  therefore 
made  no  farther  attempts  in  this  south-west  and  south 
part  of  the  bay,  but  steered  away  to  the  eastward,  to 
see  if  there  was  any  land  that  way,  for  as  yet  we  had 
seen  none  there.  On  the  12th,  in  the  morning,  we 
passed  by  ihe  north  point  of  that  land,  and  were 
confirmed  in  the  persuasion  of  its  being  an  island  by 
seeing  an  opening  to  the  east  of  it,  as  we  had  done  on 
the  west.  Having  fair  weather,  a  small  gale,  and 
smooth  water,  we  stood  further  on  in  the  bay  to  see 
what  land  was  on  the  east  of  it.  Our  soundings  at  first 
were  seven  fathom,  which  held  so  a  great  while,  but 
at  length  it  decreased  to  six.  Then  we  saw  tlie  land 
right  ahead.  We  could  not  come  near  it  with  the 
ship,  having  but  shoal  water,  and  it  being  dangerous 
lying  there,  and  the  land  extraordinarily  low,  very 
unlikely  to  have  fresh  water  (though  it  had  a  few  trees 
on  it,  seemingly  mangroves),  and  much  of  it  probably 
covered  at  high  water,  I  stood  out  again  that  afternoon, 
deepening  the  water,  and  before  night  anchored  in 
eight  fathom,  clean  white  sand,  about  the  middle  of 
the  bay.  The  next  day  we  got  up  our  anchor,  and  that 
afternoon  came  to  an  anchor  once  more  near  two  islands 
and  a  shoal  of  coral  rocks  that  face  the  bay.  Here  I 
scrubbed  my  ship;  and  finding  it  very  improbable  I 
should  get  any  further  here,  I  made  the  best  of  my 
way  out  to  sea  again,  sounding  all  tlie  way ;  but  finding, 


114  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

by  the  shallowness  of  the  water,  that  there  was  no 
going  out  to  sea  to  the  east  of  the  two  islands  that  face 
the  bay,  nor  between  them,  I  returned  to  the  west 
entrance,  going  out  by  the  same  way  I  came  in  at,  only 
on  the  east  instead  of  the  west  side  of  the  small  shoal : 
in  which  channel  we  had  ten,  twelve,  and  thirteen 
fathom  water,  still  deepening  upon  us  till  we  were  out 
at  sea.  The  day  before  we  came  out  I  sent  a  boat 
ashore  to  the  most  northerly  of  the  two  islands,  which 
is  the  least  of  them,  catching  many  small  fish  in  the 
meanwhile  with  hook  and  line.  The  boat's  crew 
returning  told  me  that  the  isle  produces  nothing  but  a 
sort  of  green,  short,  hard,  prickly  grass,  affording 
neither  wood  nor  fresh  water,  and  that  a  sea  broke 
between  the  two  islands — a  sign  that  the  water  was 
shallow.  They  saw  a  large  turtle,  and  many  skates  and 
thornbacks,  but  caught  none. 

It  was  August  the  14th  when  I  sailed  out  of  this 
bay  or  sound,  the  mouth  of  which  lies,  as  I  said,  in 
25°  5',  designing  to  coast  along  to  the  north-east  till  I 
might  commodiously  put  in  at  some  other  port  of  New 
Holland.  In  passing  out  we  saw  three  water-serpents 
swimming  about  in  the  sea,  of  a  yellow  colour  spotted 
with  dark  brown  spots.  Tliey  were  each  about  four 
foot  long,  and  about  the  bigness  of  a  man's  wrist,  and 
were  the  first  I  saw  on  this  coast,  which  abounds  with 
several  sorts  of  them.  "We  had  the  winds  at  our  first 
coming  out  at  north,  and  the  land  lying  north-easterly. 
We  plied  off  and  on,  getting  forward  but  little  till  the 


DAMPIEE's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       115 

next  day,  wlien  the  wind  coining  at  sonth-soutli-west 
and  south,  we  began  to  coast  it  along  the  shore  on  the 
northward,  keeping  at  six  or  seven  leagues  off  shore, 
and  sounding  often,  we  had  between  forty  and  forty- 
six  fathom  water,  brown  sand  with  some  white  shells. 
This  15th  of  August  we  were  in  latitude  24°  41'.  On 
the  16th  day,  at  noon,  we  were  in  23°  22'.  The  wind 
coming  at  east  by  north,  we  could  not  keep  the  shore 
aboard,  but  were  forced  to  go  farther  off,  and  lost  sight 
of  the  land ;  then  sounding,  we  had  no  ground  with 
eighty  fathom  line.  However,  the  wind  shortly  after 
came  about  again  to  the  southward,  and  then  we  jogged 
on  again  to  the  northward,  and  saw  many  small 
dolphins  and  whales,  and  abundance  of  cuttle-shells 
swimming  on  the  sea,  and  some  water-snakes  every 
day.  The  17th  we  saw  the  land  again  and  took  a  sight 
of  it. 

The  18th,  in  the  afternoon,  being  three  or  four 
leagues  off  shore,  I  saw  a  shoal-point  stretching  from 
the  land  into  the  sea  a  league  or  more ;  the  sea  broke 
high  on  it,  by  which  I  saw  plainly  there  was  a  shoal 
there.  I  stood  farther  off  and  coasted  along  shore  to 
about  seven  or  eight  leagues  distance,  and  at  twelve 
o'clock  at  night  we  sounded,  and  had  but  twenty 
fathom,  hard  sand.  By  this  I  found  I  was  upon 
another  shoal,  and  so  presently  steered  off  west  half 
an  hour,  and  had  then  forty  fathom.  At  one  in  the 
morning  of  the  18th  day  we  had  eighty-five  fathom ; 
hj  two   we  could   find   no    ground,  and  then  I  ven- 


116        EAELY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

tured  to  steer  along  sliore  again  due  north,  wliieh 
is  two  points  wide  of  the  coast  (that  lies  north-north- 
east), for  fear  of  another  shoal.  I  would  not  be  too  far 
off  from  the  laud,  being  desirous  to  search  into  it 
wherever  I  should  find  an  opening  or  any  convenience 
of  searching  about  for  water,  etc.  When  we  were  off 
the  shoal-point  I  mentioned,  where  we  had  but  twenty 
f  athom  water,  we  had  in  the  night  abundance  of  whales 
about  the  ship,  some  ahead,  others  astern,  and  some  on 
each  side,  blowing  and  making  a  very  dismal  noise;  but 
when  we  came  out  again  into  deeper  water,  they  left 
us ;  indeed,  the  noise  that  they  made  by  blowing  and 
dashing  of  the  sea  with  their  tails,  making  it  all  of  a 
breach  and  foam,  was  very  dreadful  to  us,  like  the 
breach  of  the  waves  in  very  shoal  water  or  among 
rocks.  The  shoal  these  whales  were  upon  had  depth 
of  water  sufficient,  no  less  than  twenty  fathom,  as  I 
said,  and  it  lies  in  latitude  22°  22'.  The  shore  was 
generally  bold  all  along.  We  had  met  with  no  shoal 
at  sea  since  the  Abrolilo  shoal,  when  we  first  fell  on 
the  New  Holland  coast  in  the  latitude  of  28^,  till 
yesterday  in  the  afternoon  and  this  night.  This  morn- 
ing also,  when  we  expected  by  the  draught  we  had 
%vith  us  to  have  been  eleven  leagues  off  shore,  we  were 
but  four,  so  that  either  our  draughts  were  faulty, 
which  yet  hitherto  and  afterwards  we  found  true 
enough  as  to  the  lying  of  the  coast,  or  else  here  was  a 
tide  unknown  to  us  that  deceived  us,  though  we  had 
found  very  little  of  any  tide  on  this  coast  hitherto ;  as 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new    HOLLAND.       117 

to  our  winds  iu  the  coasting  thus  far,  as  we  had  been 
within  the  verge  of  the  general  trade  (though  inter- 
rupted by  the  storm  I  mentioned),  from  the  latitude  of 
28*^,  when  we  first  fell  in  with  the  coast,  and  by 
that  time  we  were  in  the  latitude  of  25*^,  we  had 
usually  the  regular  trade  wind  (which  is  here  south - 
south-east)  when  we  were  at  any  distance  from  shore ; 
but  we  had  often  sea  and  land  breezes,  especially  when 
near  shore  and  when  in  Shark's  Bay,  and  had  a  parti- 
cular north-west  wind  or  storm  that  set  us  in  thither. 
On  this  18th  of  August  we  coasted  with  a  brisk  gale  of 
the  true  trade  wind  at  south-south-east,  very  fair  and 
clear  weather ;  but  hauling  off  in  the  evening  to  sea, 
were  next  morning  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  the  land 
now  trending  away  north-easterly,  and  we  being  to  the 
northward  of  it,  and  the  wind  also  shrinking  from  the 
south-south-east  to  the  east-south-east  (that  is,  from 
the  true  trade  wind  to  the  sea  breeze,  as  the  land  now 
lay),  we  could  not  get  in  with  the  land  again  yet  awhile 
so  as  to  see  it,  though  we  trimmed  sharp  and  kept  close 
on  a  wind.  We  were  this  19tli  day  in  latitude  21^  42'. 
The  20th  we  were  in  latitude  19^  37',  and  kept  close 
on  a  wind  to  get  sight  of  the  land  again,  but  could  not 
yet  see  it.  We  had  very  fair  weather,  and  though  we 
were  so  far  from  the  land  as  to  be  out  of  sight  of  it, 
yet  we  had  tlie  sea  and  land  breezes.  In  the  night  we 
had  the  land  breeze  at  south-south-east,  a  small  gentle 
gale,  which  in  the  morning  about  sun-rising  would 
shift    about    gradually     (and    witlial     increasing    in 


118  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

strength)  till  about  noon  we  should  have  it  at  east- 
south-east,  which  is  the  true  sea  breeze  here.  Then  it 
would  blow  a  brisk  gale  so  that  we  could  scarce  carry 
our  top-sails  double-reefed;  and  it  would  continue  thus 
till  three  in  the  afternoon,  when  it  would  decrease 
again.  The  weather  was  fair  all  the  while,  not  a  cloud 
to  be  seen,  but  very  hazy,  especially  nigh  the  horizon. 
We  sounded  several  times  this  20th  day,  and  at  first 
had  no  ground,  but  had  afterwards  from  fifty-two 
to  forty-five  fathom,  coarse  brown  sand,  mixed  with 
small  bi'own  and  white  stones,  with  dints  besides  in 
the  tallow. 

The  21st  day  also  we  had  small  land  breezes  in  the 
night,  and  sea  breezes  in  the  day,  and  as  we  saw  some 
sea-snakes  every  day,  so  this  day  we  saw  a  great  many, 
of  two  different  sorts  or  shapes.  One  sort  was  yellow, 
and  about  the  bigness  of  a  man's  wrist,  about  four  feet 
long,  having  a  flat  tail  about  four  fingers  broad.  The 
other  sort  was  much  smaller  and  shorter,  round,  and 
spotted  black  and  yellow.  This  day  we  sounded 
several  times,  and  had  forty-five  fathom,  sand.  We 
did  not  make  the  land  till  noon,  and  then  saw  it  first 
from  our  topmast  head ;  it  bore  south-east  by  east  about 
nine  leagues  distance,  and  it  appeared  like  a  cape  or 
head  of  land.  The  sea  breeze  this  day  was  not  so 
strong  as  the  day  before,  and  it  veered  out  more,  so 
that  we  had  a  fair  wind  to  run  in  with  to  the  shore, 
and  at  sunset  anchored  in  twenty  fathom,  clean  sand, 
about  five  leagues  from  the  Blufl:  point,  wliich  was  not 


DAMPIEE'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       119 

a  cape  (as  it  appeared  at  a  great  distance),  but  the 
easternmost  end  of  an  island  about  five  or  six  leagues 
in  length,  and  one  in  breadth.  There  were  three  or 
four  rocky  islands  about  a  league  from  us,  between  us 
and  the  Bluff  point,  and  we  saw  many  other  islands 
both  to  the  east  and  west  of  it,  as  far  as  we  could  see 
either  way  from  our  topmast-head,  and  all  within  them 
to  the  south  there  was  nothing  but  islands  of  a  pretty 
height,  that  may  be  seen  eight  or  nine  leagues  off ;  by 
what  we  saw  of  them  they  must  have  been  a  range  of 
islands  of  about  twenty  leagues  in  length,  stretching 
from  east-north-east  to  west-south-west,  and,  for  aught 
I  know,  as  far  as  to  those  of  Shark's  Bay,  and  to  a 
considerable  breadth  also,  for  we  could  see  nine  or  ten 
leagues  in  among  them,  towards  the  continent  or  main- 
land of  New  Holland,  if  there  be  any  such  thing 
hereabouts ;  and  by  the  great  tides  I  met  with  awhile 
afterwards,  more  to  the  north-east,  I  had  a  strong 
suspicion  that  here  might  be  a  kind  of  archipelago  of 
islands,  and  a  passage  possibly  to  the  south  of  New 
Holland  and  New  Guinea  into  the  great  South  Sea 
eastward,  which  I  had  thoughts  also  of  attempting  in 
ray  return  from  New  Guinea,  had  circumstances  per- 
mitted, and  told  my  officers  so  ;  but  I  would  not 
attempt  it  at  this  time,  because  we  wanted  water,  and 
could  not  depend  upon  finding  it  there.  This  place  is 
in  the  latitude  of  20°  21',  but  in  the  draught  tliat  I 
had  of  this  coast,  which  was  Tasman's,  it  was  laid 
down  in  19°    50',  and  the  shore  is  laid  down  as  all 


120  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

along  joining  in  one  body  or  continent,  with  some 
openings  appearing  like  rivers,  and  not  like  islands  as 
really  they  are.  This  place  lies  more  northerly  by 
40'  than  is  laid  down  in  Mr.  Tasman's  draught,  and 
besides  its  being  made  a  firm  continued  land,  only  with 
some  openings  like  the  mouths  of  rivers,  I  found  the 
soundings  also  different  from  what  the  pricked  line  of 
his  course  shows  them,  and  generally  shallower  than 
he  makes  them,  which  inclines  me  to  think  that  he 
came  not  so  near  the  shore  as  his  line  shows,  and  so 
had  deeper  soundings,  and  could  not  so  well  distinguish 
the  islands.  His  meridian  or  difference  of  longitude 
from  Shark's  Bay  agrees  well  enough  with  my  ac- 
count, which  is  two  hundred  and  thirty-two  leagues, 
though  we  differ  in  latitude ;  and  to  confirm  my  con- 
jecture that  the  line  of  his  course  is  made  too  near  the 
shore,  at  least  not  far  to  the  east  of  this  place,  the 
water  is  there  so  shallow  that  he  could  not  come  there 
60  nigh. 

But  to  proceed.  In  the  night  we  had  a  small  land 
breeze,  and  in  the  moraing  I  weighed  anchor,  design- 
ing to  run  in  among  the  islands,  for  they  had  large 
channels  between  them  of  a  league  wide  at  least,  and 
some  two  or  three  leagues  wide.  I  sent  in  my  boat 
before  to  sound,  and  if  they  found  shoal  water  to 
return  again,  but  if  they  found  water  enough  to  go 
ashore  on  one  of  the  islands  and  stay  till  the  ship  came 
in,  where  they  might  in  the  meantime  search  for  water. 
So  we  followed  after  with  the  ship,  sounding  as  we 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       121 

went  in,  and  liad  twenty  fathom  till  within  two  leagues 
of  the  Bluff  head,  and  then  we  had  shoal  water  and 
very  uncertain  soundings  ;  yet  we  ran  in  still  with  an 
easy  sail,  sounding  and  looking  out  well,  for  this  was 
dangerous  work.  When  we  came  abreast  of  the  Bluff 
head,  and  about  two  miles  from  it,  we  had  but  seven 
fathom,  then  we  edged  away  from  it,  but  had  no  more 
water,  and  running  in  a  little  farther  we  had  but  four 
fathoms,  so  we  anchored  immediately ;  and  yet  when 
we  had  veered  out  a  third  of  a  cable,  we  had  seven 
fathom  water  again,  so  uncertain  was  the  water.  My 
boat  came  immediately  on  board,  and  told  me  that  the 
island  was  very  rocky  and  dry,  and  they  had  little 
hopes  of  finding  water  there.  I  sent  them  to  sound, 
and  bade  them,  if  they  found  a  channel  of  eight  or  ten 
fathom  water,  to  keep  on,  and  we  would  follow  with 
the  ship.  We  were  now  about  four  leagues  within  the 
outer  small  rocky  islands,  but  still  could  see  nothing 
but  islands  within  us,  some  five  or  six  leagues  long, 
others  not  above  a  mile  round.  The  large  islands  were 
pretty  high,  but  all  appeared  dry,  and  mostly  rocky  and 
barren.  The  rocks  looked  of  a  rusty  yellow  colom% 
and  therefore  I  despaired  of  getting  water  on  any  of 
them,  but  was  in  some  hopes  of  finding  a  channel  to 
run  in  beyond  all  these  islands,  could  I  have  spent 
time  here,  and  either  got  to  the  main  of  New  Holland 
or  find  out  some  other  islands  that  might  afford  us 
water  and  other  refreshments ;  besides  that  among  so 
many  islands  we  might  have  found  some  sort  of  rich 


122  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

mineral,  or  ambergris,  it  being  a  good  latitude  for 
both  these.  But  we  had  not  sailed  above  a  league 
farther  before  our  water  grew  shoaler  again,  and  then 
we  anchored  in  six  fathom,  hard  sand. 

We  were  now  on  the  inner  side  of  the  island,  on 
whose  outside  is  the  Bluff  point.  We  rode  a  league 
from  the  island,  and  I  presently  went  ashore  and 
carried  shovels  to  dig  for  water,  but  found  none. 
There  grow  here  two  or  three  sorts  of  shrubs,  one  just 
like  rosemary,  and  therefore  I  called  this  Rosemary 
Island ;  it  grew  in  great  plenty  here,  but  had  no  smell. 
Some  of  the  other  shrubs  had  blue  and  yellow  flowers ; 
and  we  found  two  sorts  of  grain  like  beans ;  the  one 
grew  on  bushes,  the  other  on  a  sort  of  creeping  vine 
that  runs  along  on  the  ground,  having  very  thick 
broad  leaves,  and  the  blossom  like  a  bean  blossom,  but 
much  larger  and  of  a  deep  red  colour,  looking  very 
beautiful.  We  saw  here  some  cormorants,  gulls,  crab- 
catchers,  etc.,  a  few  small  land  birds,  and  a  sort  of 
white  parrots,  which  flew  a  great  many  together.  We 
found  some  shell-fish,  viz.,  limpets,  periwinkles,  and 
abundance  of  small  oysters  growing  on  the  rocks, 
which  were  very  sweet.  In  the  sea  we  saw  some  green 
turtle,  many  sharks,  and  abundance  of  water-snakes  of 
several  sorts  and  sizes.  The  stones  were  all  of  rusty 
colour,  and  ponderous. 

We  saw  a  smoke  on  an  island  three  or  four  leagues 
off,  and  here  also  the  bushes  had  been  burned,  but  we 
found  no  other  sign  of  inhabitants.     It  was  probable 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new    HOLLAND.       123 

that  on  the  island  where  the  smoke  was  there  were  in- 
habitants, and  fresh  water  for  them.  In  the  evening  I 
went  aboard,  and  consulted  with  my  officers  whether  it 
was  best  to  send  thither,  or  to  search  among  any  other 
of  these  islands  with  my  boat,  or  else  go  from  hence 
and  coast  along  shore  with  the  ship,  till  we  could  find 
some  better  place  than  this  was  to  ride  in,  where  we 
had  shoal  water  and  lay  exposed  to  vi^^s  and  tides. 
They  all  agreed  to  go  from  hence,  so  I  gave  orders  to 
weigh  in  the  morning  as  soon  as  it  should  be  light,  and 
to  get  out  with  the  land  breeze. 

Accordingly,  August  23rd,  at  five  in  the  morning, 
we  ran  out,  having  a  pretty  fresh  land  breeze  at  south- 
south-east.  By  eight  o'clock  we  were  got  out,  and 
very  seasonably,  for  before  nine  the  sea  breeze  «ame  on 
us  very  strong,  and  increasing,  we  took  in  our  top-sails 
and  stood  off  under  two  courses  and  a  mizen,  this  being 
as  much  sail  as  we  could  carry.  The  sky  was  clear, 
there  being  not  one  cloud  to  be  seen,  but  the  horizon 
appeared  very  hazy,  and  the  sun  at  setting  the  night 
before,  and  this  morning  at  rising,  appeared  very  red. 
The  wind  continued  very  strong  till  twelve,  then  it 
began  to  abate ;  I  have  seldom  met  with  a  stronger 
breeze.  These  strong  sea  breezes  lasted  thus  in  their 
turns  three  or  four  days.  They  sprang  up  with  the 
sunrise  ;  by  nine  o'clock  they  were  very  strong,  and 
so  continued  till  noon,  when  they  began  to  abate ;  and 
by  sunset  tliere  was  little  wind,  or  a  calm,  till  the  land 
breezes  camo,  which  we  should  certainly  have  in  the 


124  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

morning  about  one  or  two  o'clock.  The  land  breezes 
were  between  tbe  south-south-west  and  south-south- 
east :  the  sea  breezes  between  the  east-north-east  and 
north-north-east.  In  the  night  while  calm,  we  fished 
with  hook  and  line,  and  caught  good  store  of  fish, 
viz.,  snappers,  breams,  old- wives,  and  dog-fish.  When 
these  last  came  we  seldom  caught  any  others ;  for  if 
they  did  not  drive  away  the  other  fish,  yet  they  would 
be  sure  to  keep  them  from  taking  our  hooks,  for  they 
would  first  have  them  themselves,  biting  very  greedily. 
AYe  caught  also  a  monk- fish,  of  wliich  I  brought  home 
the  picture. 

On  the  25th  of  August  we  still  coasted  along  shore, 
that  we  might  the  better  see  any  opening ;  kept  sound- 
ing, and  had  about  twenty  fatliom,  clean  sand.  The 
26th  day,  being  about  four  leagues  off  shore,  the 
water  began  gradually  to  shoklon  from  twenty  to 
fourteen  fathom.  I  was  edging  in  a  little  towards 
the  land,  thinking  to  have  anchored;  but  presently 
after  the  water  decreased  almost  at  once,  till  we  had 
but  five  fathom.  I  durst,  therefore,  adventure  no 
farther,  but  steered  out  the  same  way  tliat  we  came  in, 
and  in  a  short  time  had  ten  fathom  (being  then  about 
four  leagues  and  a  half  from  the  sliore),  and  even 
soundings,  I  steered  avv-ay  east-north-east,  coasting 
along  as  the  land  lies.  This  day  the  sea  breezes  began 
to  be  very  moderate  again,  and  we  made  the  best  of 
our  way  along  shore,  only  in  the  night  edging  off  a 
little  for  fear  of  shoals.     Ever  since  we  left  Shark's 


DAMPIEE's   account   op   new   HOLLAND.       125 

Bay  we  liad  fair  clear  weatlier,  and  so  for  a  great 
while  still. 

The  27th  day  we  had  twenty  fathom  water  all  night, 
yet  we  could  not  see  land  till  one  in  the  afternoon  from 
our  topmast-head.  By  three  we  conld  just  discern 
land  from  our  quarter-deck;  we  had  then  sixteen 
fathom.  The  wind  was  at  north,  and  we  steered  east- 
by-north,  which  is  but  one  point  in  on  the  land ;  yet 
we  decreased  our  water  very  fast,  for  at  four  we  had 
but  nine  fathom,  the  next  cast  but  seven,  which 
frightened  us  ;  and  we  then  tacked  instantly  and  stood 
off,  but  in  a  short  time  the  wind  coming  at  north-west 
and  west-north-west,  we  tacked  again  and  steered 
north-north-east,  and  then  deepened  our  water  again, 
and  had  all  night  from  fifteen  to  twenty  fathom. 

The  28th  day  we  had  between  twenty  and  forty 
fathom.  We  saw  no  land  this  day,  but  saw  a  great 
many  snakes  and  some  whales.  We  saw  also  some 
boobies  and  noddy-birds,  and  in  the  night  caught  one 
of  these  last.  It  was  of  anotlier  shape  and  colour  than 
any  I  had  seen  before.  It  had  a  small  long  bill,  as  all 
of  them  have,  flat  feet  like  ducks'  feet,  its  tail  forked 
like  a  swallow,  but  longer  and  broader,  and  the  fork 
deeper  than  that  of  the  swallow,  with  very  long  wings ; 
the  top  or  crown  of  the  head  of  this  noddy  was  coal- 
black,  having  also  small  black  streaks  round  about  and 
close  to  the  eyes ;  and  round  these  streaks  on  each 
side,  a  pretty  broad  white  circle.  The  breast,  belly, 
and  under  part  of  the  wings  of  this  noddy  were  white, 


126  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

and  tlie  back  and  upper  part  of  its  wings  of  a  faint 
black  or  smoke  colour.  Noddies  are  seen  in  most 
places  between  the  tropics,  as  well  in  the  East  Indies 
and  on  the  coast  of  Brazil,  as.  in  the  West  Indies. 
They  rest  ashore  at  night,  and  therefore  we  never  see 
them  far  at  sea,  not  above  twenty  or  thirty  leagues, 
unless  driven  off  in  a  storm.  When  they  come  about 
a  ship  they  commonly  perch  in  the  night,  and  will  sit 
still  till  they  are  taken  by  the  seamen.  They  build  on 
cliffs  against  the  sea,  or  rocks. 

The  30th  day,  being  in  latitude  18°  21',  we  made 
the  land  again,  and  saw  many  great  smokes  near  the 
shore  ;  and  having  fair  weather  and  moderate  breezes. 
I  steered  in  towards  it.  At  four  in  the  afternoon  I 
anchored  in  eight  fathom  water,  clear  sand,  about  three 
leagues  and  a  half  from  the  shore.  I  presently  sent 
my  boat  to  sound  nearer  in,  and  they  found  ten 
fathom  about  a  mile  farther  in,  and  from  thence  still 
farther  in  the  water  decreased  gradually  to  nine,  eight, 
seven,  and  at  two  miles  distance  to  six  fathom.  This 
evening  we  saw  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,  but  it  was 
abating  before  the  moon  appeared  to  us ;  for  the 
horizon  was  very  hazy,  so  that  we  coidd  not  see  the 
moon  till  she  had  been  half  an  hour  above  the 
horizon ;  and  at  two  hours  twenty-two  minutes  after 
sunset,  by  the  reckoning  of  our  glasses,  the  eclipse 
was  quite  gone,  whicli  was  not  of  many  digits.  The 
vnoon's  centre  was  then  33°    40'  high. 

The  31st  of  August,  betimes  in  the  morning,  I  went 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       127 

asliore  with  ten  or  eleven  men  to  searcli  for  water.  We 
went  armed  with  muskets  and  cutlasses  for  our  de- 
fence, expecting  to  see  people  there,  and  carried  also 
shovels  and  pickaxes  to  dig  wells.  When  we  came 
near  the  shore  we  saw  three  tall,  black,  naked  men 
on  the  sandy  bay  ahead  of  us;  but  as  we  rowed  in, 
they  went  away.  When  we  were  landed,  I  sent  the 
boat  with  two  men  in  her  to  lie  a  little  from  the  shore 
at  an  anchor,  to  prevent  being  seized ;  while  the  rest  of 
us  went  after  the  three  black  men,  who  were  now  got 
on  the  top  of  a  small  hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
us,  with  eight  or  nine  men  more  in  tlieir  company. 
They,  seeing  us  coming,  ran  away.  When  we  came 
on  the  top  of  the  hill  where  they  first  stood,  we  saw 
a  plain  savannah,  about  half  a  mile  from  us,  farther 
in  from  the  sea.  There  were  several  things  like 
hay-cocks  standing  in  the  savannah,  which  at  a 
distance  we  thought  were  houses,  looking  just  like  the 
Hottentots'  houses  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  :  but  we 
found  them  to  be  so  many  rocks.  We  searched  about 
these  for  water,  but  could  find  none,  nor  any  houses, 
nor  people,  for  they  were  all  gone.  Then  we  turned 
again  to  the  place  where  we  landed,  and  there  we  dug 
for  water. 

While  we  were  at  work  there  came  nine  or  ten 
of  the  natives  to  a  small  hill  a  little  way  from  us, 
and  stood  there  menacing  and  threatening  us,  and 
making  a  great  noise.  At  last  one  of  them  came 
towards  us,  and  the  rest  followed  at  a  distance.     I 


128        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

went  out  to  meet  him,  and  came  within  jSity  yards  of 
him,  making  to  him  all  the  signs  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship I  could,  but  then  he  ran  away,  neither  would  they 
any  of  them  stay  for  us  to  come  nigh  them,  for  we 
tried  two  or  three  times.  At  last  I  took  two  men  with 
me,  and  went  in  the  afternoon  along  by  the  sea-side, 
purposely  to  catch  one  of  them,  if  I  could,  of  whom  I 
might  learn  where  they  got  their  fresh  water.  There 
were  ten  or  twelve  of  the  natives  a  little  way  off,  who, 
seeing  us  three  going  away  from  the  rest  of  our  men, 
followed  us  at  a  distance.  I  thought  they  would 
follow  us,  but  there  being  for  awhile  a  sand-bank 
between  us  and  them,  that  they  could  not  then  see  us, 
we  made  a  halt,  and  hid  ourselves  in  a  bending  of 
the  sand-bank.  They  knew  we  must  be  thereabouts, 
and  being  three  or  four  times  our  numbers,  thought  to 
seize  us.  So  they  dispersed  themselves,  some  going 
to  the  sea-shore,  and  others  beating  about  the  sand- 
hills. We  knew  by  what  rencounter  we  had  had  with 
them  in  the  morning  that  we  could  easily  out-run 
them,  so  a  nimble  young  man  that  was  with  me,  seeing 
some  of  them  near,  ran  towards  them ;  and  they  for 
some  time  ran  away  before  him,  but  he  soon  overtaking 
them,  they  faced  about  and  fought  him.  He  had  a 
cutlass  and  they  had  wooden  lances,  with  which,  being 
many  of  them,  they  were  too  hard  for  him.  When  he 
first  ran  towards  them  I  chased  two  more  that  were  by 
the  shore  ;  but  fearing  how  it  might  be  with  my  young 
man,  I  turned  back  quickly  and  went  to  the  top  of  a 


DAMPIER's   account   op    new   HOLLAND.       129 

sand-liill,  whence  I  saw  him  near  me,  closely  engaged 
with  them.  Upon  their  seeing  me,  one  of  them  threw 
a  lance  at  me,  that  narrowly  missed  me.  I  discharged 
my  gun  to  scare  them,  but  avoided  shooting  any  of 
them,  till  finding  the  young  man  in  great  danger  from 
them,  and  myself  in  some ;  and  that  though  the  gun 
had  a  little  frightened  them  at  first,  yet  they  had  soon 
learnt  to  desj^ise  it,  tossing  up  their  hands  and  crying, 
"  pooh,  pooh,  pooh,"  and  coming  on  afresh  with  a  great 
noise,  I  thought  it  high  time  to  charge  again,  and 
shoot  one  of  them,  which  I  did.  The  rest,  seeing  him 
fall,  made  a  stand  again,  and  my  young  man  took  the 
opportunity  to  disengage  himself  and  come  off  to  me ; 
my  other  man  also  was  with  me,  who  had  done  nothing 
all  this  while,  having  come  out  unarmed,  and  I  re- 
turned back  with  my  men,  designing  to  attempt  the 
natives  no  farther,  being  very  sorry  for  what  had 
happened  already.  They  took  up  their  wounded 
companion  ;  and  my  young  man,  who  had  been  struck 
through  the  cheek  by  one  of  their  lances,  was  afraid  it 
had  been  poisoned,  but  I  did  not  think  that  likely. 
His  wound  was  very  painful  to  him,  being  made  with 
a  blunt  weapon ;  but  he  soon  recovered  of  it. 

Among  the  New  Hollanders,  whom  we  were  thus 
engaged  with,  there  was  one  who  by  his  appearance 
and  carriage,  as  well  in  the  morning  as  this  afternoon, 
seemed  to  be  the  chief  of  them,  and  a  kind  of  prince 
or  captain  among  them.  He  was  a  young  brisk  man, 
not  very  tall,  nor  so  personable  as  some  of  the  rest^ 
E— 43 


130  EARLY   ATJSTEALIAN   VOYAGES. 

thougli  more  active  and  courageous :  he  was  painted 
(wliicli  none  of  the  rest  were  at  all)  with  a  circle  of 
white  paste  or  pigment  (a  sort  of  lime,  as  we  thought) 
about  his  eyes,  and  a  white  streak  down  his  nose,  from 
his  forehead  to  the  tip  of  it :  and  his  breast  and  some 
part  of  his  arms  were  also  made  white  with  the  same 
paint ;  not  for  beauty  or  ornament,  one  would  think, 
but  as  some  wild  Indian  warriors  are  said  to  do,  he 
seemed  thereby  to  design  the  looking  more  terrible ; 
this  his  painting  adding  very  much  to  his  natural 
deformity;  for  they  all  of  them  have  the  most  un- 
pleasant looks  and  the  worst  features  of  any  people 
that  ever  I  saw,  though  I  have  seen  great  variety  of 
savages.  These  Xew  Hollanders  were  probably  the  same 
sort  of  people  as  those  I  met  with  on  this  coast  in  my 
voyage  round  the  world,  for  the  place  I  then  touched 
at  was  not  above  forty  or  fifty  leagues  to  the  north-east 
of  this,  and  these  were  much  the  same  blinking 
creatures  (here  being  also  abundance  of  the  same  kind 
of  flesh-flies  teazing  them,)  and  with  the  same  black 
skins,  and  hair  frizzled,  tall  and  thin,  &c.  as  those 
were  :  but  we  had  not  the  opportunity  to  see  whether 
these,  as  the  former,  wanted  two  of  their  fore-teeth. 

We  saw  a  great  many  j)laces  where  they  had  made 
fires,  and  where  there  were  commonly  three  or  four 
boughs  stuck  up  to  windward  of  them  ;  for  the  wind, 
(which  is  the  sea-breeze),  in  the  day-time  blows  always 
one  way  with  them,  and  the  land-breeze  is  but  small. 
By  their  fire-places  we  should  always  find  great  heaps 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       131 

of  fish- shells  of  several  sorts ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
these  poor  creatures  here  lived  chiefly  on  the  shell-fish, 
as  those  I  before  described  did  on  small  fish,  which 
they  caught  in  wires  or  holes  in  the  sand  at  low 
water.  These  gathered  their  shell-fish  on  the  rocks  at 
low  water  but  had  no  wires  (that  we  saw),  whereby  to 
get  any  other  sorts  of  fish;  as  among  the  former  I 'saw 
not  any  heaps  of  shells  as  here,  though  I  know  they 
also  gathered  some  shell-fish.  The  lances  also  of  those 
were  such  as  these  had ;  however,  they  being  upon  an 
island,  with  their  women  and  children,  and  all  in  our 
power,  they  did  not  there  use  them  against  us,  as  here 
on  the  continent,  where  we  saw  none  but  some  of  the 
men  under  head,  who  come  out  purposely  to  observe 
us.  We  saw  no  houses  at  either  place,  and  I  believe 
they  have  none,  since  the  former  people  on  the  island 
had  none,  though  they  had  all  their  families  with 
them. 

Upon  returning  to  my  men  I  saw  that  though  they 
had  dug  eight  or  nine  feet  deep,  yet  found  no  water. 
So  I  returned  aboard  that  evening,  and  the  next  day, 
being  Septembe-r  1st,  I  sent  my  boatswain  ashore  to 
dig  deeper,  and  sent  the  seine  with  him  to  catch  fish. 
While  I  stayed  aboard  I  observed  the  flowing  of  the 
tide,  which  runs  very  swift  here,  so  that  our  nun-buoy 
would  not  bear  above  the  water  to  be  seen.  It  flows 
here  (as  on  that  part  of  New  Holland  I  described 
formerly)  about  five  faihom;  and  here  the  flood  runs 
south-east  by  south  till  the  last  quarter ;  then  it  sets 


1)2        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

right  iu  towards  tlie  sliore  (whicli  lies  here  south-south- 
Avest  and  north  north-east)  and  the  ebb  runs  north-west 
by  north.  When  the  tides  slackened  we  fished  with 
liook  and  line,  as  we  had  already  done  in  several  places 
on  this  coast ;  on  which  in  this  voyage  hitherto  we  had 
found  but  little  tides;  but  by  the  height,  and  streugtJi, 
and  course  of  them  hereabouts,  it  should  seem  that  if 
there  be  sucli  a  passage  or  strait  going  through  east- 
ward to  the  great  South  Sea,  as  I  said  one  might  sus- 
pect, one  would  expect  to  find  the  mouth  of  it  some- 
where between  this  place  and  Rosemary  Island,  which 
v.as  the  part  of  New  Holland  I  came  last  from. 

Next  morning  my  men  came  aboard  and  brought  a 
runlet  of  brackish  water  which  they  had  got  out  of 
another  well  that  they  dug  iu  a  j^lace  a  mile  off,  and 
about  half  as  far  from  the  shore ;  but  this  water  was 
not  fit  to  drink.  However,  we  all  concluded  that  it 
would  serve  to  boil  our  oatmeal,  for  burgoo,  whereby 
we  might  save  the  remains  of  our  other  water  for 
di-inkiug,  till  we  should  get  more  :  and  accordingly  the 
next  day  we  brought  aboard  four  hogsheads  of  it :  but 
v\  hile  we  were  at  work  about  the  well  we  were  sadly 
pestered  with  the  flies,  which  were  more  troublesome 
to  us  than  the  sun,  though  it  shone  clear  and  strong 
upon  us  all  the  while  very  hot.  All  this  while  we  saw 
no  more  of  the  natives,  but  saw  some  of  the  smoke  of 
some  of  their  fires  at  two  or  three  miles  distance. 

The  land  hereabouts  was  much  like  the  port  of  New 
Holland   that  I   formerly   described;    it   is   low,  but 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       133 

seemingly  barricaded  with  a  long  chain  of  sand-hills  to 
the  sea,  that  lets  nothing  be  seen  of  what  is  farther 
within  land.  At  high  water  the  tides  rising  so  high 
as  they  do,  the  coast  shows  very  low  :  but  when  it  is 
low  water  it  seems  to  be  of  an  indifferent  height.  At 
low  water-raark  the  shore  is  all  rocky,  so  that  then 
there  is  no  landing  with  a  boat ;  but  at  high  water  a 
boat  may  come  in  over  those  rocks  to  the  sandy  bay, 
which  runs  all  along  on  this  coast.  The  land  by  the 
sea  for  about  five  or  six  hundred  yards  is  a  dry  sandy 
soil,  bearing  only  shrubs  and  bushes  of  divers  sorts. 
Some  of  these  had  them  at  this  time  of  the  year, 
yellow  flowers  or  blossoms,  some  blue,  and  some  white ; 
most  of  tliem  of  a  very  fragrant  smell.  Some  had  fruit 
like  peascods,  in  each  of  which  there  were  just  ten 
small  peas ;  I  opened  many  of  them,  and  found  no 
more  nor  less.  There  are  also  here  some  of  that  sort 
of  bean  which  I  saw  at  Rosemary  Island  :  and  another 
sort  of  small  red  hard  pulse,  growing  in  cods  also,  with 
little  black  eyes  like  beans.  I  know  not  their  names, 
but  have  seen  them  used  often  in  the  East  Indies  for 
weighing  gold ;  and  they  make  the  same  use  of  them 
at  Guinea,  as  I  have  heard,  where  the  women  also 
make  bracelets  with  them  to  wear  about  their  arms. 
These  grow  on  bushes ;  but  here  are  also  a  fruit  like 
beans  growing  on  a  creeping  sort  of  shrub-like  vine. 
There  was  great  plenty  of  all  these  sorts  of  cod-fruit 
growing  on  the  sand-liills  by  the  sea  side,  some  of 
them  green,  some  ripe,  and  some  fallen  on  the  ground : 


134  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

but  I  could  not  perceive  that  any  of  tliem  had  been 
gathered  by  the  natives  ;  and  might  not  probably  be 
wholesome  food. 

The  land  farther  in,  that  is,  lower  than  what  borders 
on  the  sea,  was  so  much  as  we  saw  of  it,  very  plain  and 
even ;  partly  savannahs  and  partly  woodland.  The 
savannahs  bear  a  sort  of  thin  coarse  grass.  The 
mould  is  also  a  coarser  sand  than  that  by  the  sea-side, 
and  in  some  places  it  is  clay.  Here  are  a  great  many 
rocks  in  the  large  savannali  we  were  in,  which  are  five 
or  six  feet  high,  and  round  at  top  like  a  hay-cock,  very 
remarkable ;  soiae  red  and  some  white.  The  wood- 
land lies  farther  in  still,  where  there  were  divers  sorts 
of  small  trees,  scarce  any  three  feet  in  circumference, 
their  bodies  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  high,  with  a  head 
of  small  knibs  or  boughs.  By  the  sides  of  the  creeks, 
especially  nigh  the  sea,  there  gi'ow  a  few  small  black 
mangrove-trees. 

There  are  but  few  land  animals.  I  saw  some  lizards ; 
and  my  men  saw  two  or  three  beasts  like  hungry 
wolves,  lean  like  so  many  skeletons,  being  nothing  but 
skin  and  bones ;  it  is  probable  that  it  was  the  foot  of 
one  of  those  beasts  that  I  mentioned  as  seen  by  us  in 
New  Holland.  We  saw  a  raccoon  or  two,  and  one 
small  speckled  snake. 

The  land  fowls  that  we  saw  here  were  crows,  just 
such  as  ours  in  England,  small  hawks  and  kites,  a  few 
of  each  sort :  but  here  are  plenty  of  small  turtle  doves, 
that  are  plump,  fat,  and  very  good  me^t.      Here  are 


DAMPIEE'S   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       135 

two  or  tliree  sorts  of  smaller  birds,  some  as  big  as 
larks,  some  less ;  but  not  many  of  either  sort.  The 
sea-fowl  are  pelicans,  boobies,  noddies,  curlews,  sea- 
pies,  &c.,  and  but  few  of  these  neither. 

The  sea  is  jDlentifuUy  stocked  with  the  largest 
whales  that  I  ever  saw  ;  but  not  to  compare  with  the 
vast  ones  of  the  Northern  Seas.  We  saw  also  a  great 
many  green  turtle,  but  caught  none,  here  being  no 
place  to  set  a  turtle  net  in ;  there  being  no  channel  for 
them,  and  the  tides  running  so  strong.  We  saw  some 
sharks  and  parracoots ;  and  with  hooks  and  lines  we 
caught  some  rock-fish  and  old-wives.  Of  shell-fish, 
here  were  oysters  both  of  the  common  kind  for  eating, 
and  of  the  pearl  kind;  and  also  whelks,  conchs, 
muscles,  limpits,  periwinkles,  &c.,  and  I  gathered  a 
few  strange  shells,  chiefly  a  sort  not  large,  and  thick- 
set all  about  with  rays  or  spikes  growing  in  rows. 

And  thus  having  ranged  about  a  considerable  time 
upon  this  coast,  without  fijiding  any  good  fresh  water 
or  any  convenient  place  to  clean  the  ship,  as  I  had  hoped 
for;  and  it  being  moreover  the  height  of  the  dry 
season,  and  my  men  growing  scorbutic  for  want  of 
refreshments,  so  that  I  had  little  encouragement  to 
search  further,  I  resolved  to  leave  this  coast,  and  ac- 
cordingly in  the  beginning  of  September  set  sail  to- 
wards Timor. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1699,  we  sailed  from 
Babao,  coasting  along  the  island  Timor  to  tlie  eastward, 
towards  New  Guinea.     It  was  the  20th  before  we  got 


136  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

as  far  as  Lai)liao,  whicli  is  but  forty  leagues.  We  saw 
black  clouds  in  the  north-west,  and  expected  the  wind 
from  that  quarter  above  a  month  sooner. 

That  afternoon  we  saw  the  opening  between  the 
islands  Omba  and  Fetter,  but  feared  to  pass  through  in 
the  night.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  it  fell  calm, 
and  continued  so  till  noon,  in  which  time  we  drove  with 
the  current  back  again  south-west  six  or  seven  leagues. 

On  the  22nd,  steering  to  the  eastward  to  get  through 
between  Omba  and  Fetter,  we  met  a  very  strong 
tide  against  us,  so  that  although  we  had  a  very  fresh 
gale,  we  yet  made  way  very  slowly ;  but  before  night 
got  through.  By  a  good  observation  we  found  that 
the  south-east  point  of  Omba  lies  in  latitude  8°  25'. 
In  my  drafts  it  is  laid  down  in  8'^  10'.  My  true  course 
from  Babao,  is  east  25°  north,  distance  one  himdi*ed 
eighty -three  miles.  We  sounded  several  times  when 
near  Omba,  but  had  no  ground.  On  the  north-east 
point  of  Omba  we  saw  four  or  five  men,  and  a  little 
further  tliree  pretty  houses  on  a  low  point,  but  did  not 
go  ashore. 

At  five  this  afternoon  we  had  a  tornado,  which 
yielded  much  rain,  thunder,  and  lightning;  yet  we 
had  but  little  wind.  The  24th  in  the  morning  we 
caught  a  large  shark,  which  gave  all  the  ship's  com- 
pany a  plentiful  meal. 

The  27th  we  saw  the  Burning  Island;  it  lies  in 
latitude  6°  36'  south;  it  is  high,  and  but  smaU;  it 
runs   from  the  sea  a  little   sloping  towards  the  top. 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       137 

wliicli  is  divided  in  the  middle  into  two  peaks,  between 
wliieli  issued  out  much  smoke  :  I  have  not  seen  more 
from  any  volcano.  I  saw  no  trees  ;  but  the  north  side 
appeared  green,  and  the  rest  looked  very  barren. 

Having  passed  the  Burning  Island,  I  shaped  my 
course  for  two  islands,  called  Turtle  Isles,  which  lie 
north-east  by  east  a  little  easterly,  and  distant  about 
fifty  leagues  from  the  Burning  Isle.  I  fearing  the 
wind  might  veer  to  the  eastward  of  tlie  north,  steered 
twenty  leagues  north-east,  then  north-east  by  east.  On 
the  28th  we  saw  two  small  low  islands,  called  Lucca- 
Parros,  to  the  north  of  us.  At  noon  I  accounted  myself 
twenty  leagues  short  of  the  Turtle  Isles. 

The  next  morning,  being  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Turtle  Islands,  we  looked  out  sharp  for  them,  but  saw 
no  appearance  of  any  island  till  eleven  o'clock,  w^lien 
we  saw  an  island  at  a  great  distance.  At  first  we 
supposed  it  might  be  one  of  the  Turtle  Isles,  but  it  was 
not  laid  down  true,  neither  in  latitude  nor  longitude 
from  the  Burning  Isle,  nor  from  the  Lucca-Parros, 
which  last  I  took  to  be  a  great  help  to  guide  me,  they 
being  laid  down  very  well  from  the  Burning  Isle,  and 
that  likewise  in  true  latitude  and  distance  from  Omba, 
so  that  I  could  not  tell  what  to  think  of  the  island  now 
in  sight,  we  having  had  fair  weather,  so  tliat  we  could. 
not  pass  by  the  Turtle  Isles  without  seeing  them,  and 
this  in  sight  was  much  too  far  off  for  them.  We  found 
variation  1°  2'  east.  In  the  afternoon  I  steered  north- 
east by  east  for   the   islands   tliat   we   saw.     At   two 


138  EAULT  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

o'clock  I  went  and.  looked  over  the  fore-yard,  and  saw 
two  islands  at  mucli  greater  distance  than  the  Turtle 
Islands  are  laid  down  in  my  drafts,  one  of  them  was  a 
very  high  peaked  mountain,  cleft  at  top,  and  much  like 
the  Burning  Island  that  we  passed  by,  but  bigger  and 
higher ;  the  other  was  a  pretty  long  high  flat  island. 
Now  I  was  certain  that  these  were  not  the  Turtle 
Islands,  and  that  they  could  be  no  other  than  the 
Bande  Isles,  yet  we  steered  in  to  make  them  plainer. 
At  three  o'clock  we  discovered  another  small  flat  island 
to  the  north-west  of  the  others,  and  saw  a  great  deal  of 
smoke  rise  from  the  top  of  the  high  island.  At  four 
we  saw  other  small  islands,  by  which  I  was  now  assured 
that  these  were  the  Bande  Isles  there.  At  five  I 
altered  my  course  and  steered  east,  and  at  eight  east- 
south-east,  because  I  would  not  be  seen  by  the  in- 
habitants of  those  islands  in  the  morning.  We  had 
little  wind  all  night,  and  in  the  morning,  as  soon  as  it 
was  light  we  saw  another  high  peaked  island ;  at  eight 
it  bore  south-south-east  half-east,  distance  eight 
leagues :  and  this  I  knew  to  be  Bird  Isle.  It  is  laid 
down  in  our  drafts  in  latitude  5°  9'  south,  which  is  too 
far  southerly  by  twenty-seven  miles,  according  to  our 
observation,  and  the  like  error  in  laying  down  the 
Turtle  Islands  might  be  the  occasion  of  our  missing 
them. 

At  night  I  shortened  sail,  for  fear  of  coming  too 
nigh  some  islands,  that  stretch  away  bending  like  a 
half  moon  from  Ceram  towards  Timor,  and  which  in 


ITAMPIEE's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       139 

my  course  "I  must  of  necessity  pass  through.  The 
next  morning  betimes  I  saw  them,  and  found  them  to 
be  at  a  farther  distance  from  Bird  Island  than  I  ex- 
pected. In  the  afternoon  it  fell  quite  calm,  and 
when  we  had  a  little  wind,  it  was  so  unconstant,  flying 
from  one  point  to  another,  that  I  could  not  without 
difficulty  get  through  the  islands  where  I  designed ; 
besides,  I  found  a  current  setting  to  the  southward,  so 
that  it  was  betwixt  five  and  six  in  the  evening  before  I 
passed  through  the  islands,  and  then  just  weathered 
little  "Watela,  whereas  I  thought  to  have  been  two 
or  three  leagues  more  northerly.  We  saw  the  day 
before,  betwixt  two  and  three,  a  spout  but  a  small  dis- 
tance from  us,  it  fell  down  out  of  a  black  cloud,  that 
yielded  great  store  of  rain,  thunder  and  lightning; 
tliis  cloud  hovered  to  the  southward  of  us  for  the  space 
of  three  hours,  and  then  drew  to  the  westward  a  great 
pace,  at  which  time  it  was  that  we  saw  the  spout,  which 
hung  fast  to  the  cloud  till  it  broke,  and  tlien  the  cloud 
whirled  about  to  the  south-east,  then  to  east-north- 
east, where  meeting  with  an  island,  it  spent  itself  and 
so  dispersed,  and  immediately  we  had  a  little  of  the 
tail  of  it,  having  had  none  before.  Afterwards  we  saw 
a  smoke  on  the  island  Kosiway,  which  continued  till 
night. 

On  New  Tear's  Day  we  first  descried  the  land  of 
New  Guinea,  which  appeared  to  be  high  land,  and  the 
next  day  we .  saw  several  high  islands  on  the  coast  of 
New  Guinea,  and  ran  in  with  the  main  land.  The  shore 


140  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

here  lies  along  east-south-east  and  west-north--«'est.  It 
is  high  even  land,  very  well  clothed  with  tall  flourish- 
ing trees,  which  appeared  very  green,  and  gave  us  a 
very  pleasant  prospect.  We  ran  to  the  westward  of 
four  mountainous  islands,  and  in  the  night  had  a  small 
tornado,  which  brought  with  it  some  rain  and  a  fair 
wind.  We  had  fair  weather  for  a  long  time,  ouly  when 
near  any  laud  we  had  some  tornadoes ;  but  off,  at  sea, 
commonly  clear  weather,  thougli,  if  in  sight  of  land, 
we  usually  saw  many  black  clouds  hovering  about  it. 

On  the  5th  and  6th  of  January  we  plied  to  get  in 
with  the  land,  designing  to  anchor,  fill  water,  and 
spend  a  little  time  in  searching  the  country,  till  after 
the  change  of  the  moon,  for  I  found  a  strong  current 
setting  against  us.  We  anchored  in  thirty-eight  fathom 
water,  good  oozy  ground.  We  had  an  island  of  a 
league  long  without  us,  about  three  miles  distant,  and 
we  rode  from  the  main  about  a  mile.  The  easternmost 
point  of  land  seen  bore  east-by-south  half-south, 
distance  three  leagues,  and  the  westernmost  west- 
south-west  half-south,  distance  two  leagues.  So  soon 
as  we  anchored,  we  sent  the  pinnace  to  look  for  water 
and  try  if  they  could  catch  any  fish.  Afterwards  we 
sent  the  yawl  another  way  to  see  for  water.  Before 
night  the  pinnace  brought  on  board  several  sorts  of 
frtiits  that  they  found  in  the  woods,  such  as  I  never 
saw  before.  One  of  my  men  killed  a  stately  land-f owl, 
as  big  as  the  largest  dunghill  cock  ;  it  was  of  a  sky- 
colour,  only  in  the  middle  of  the  wings  was  a  white 


DAMPIER's  account  of  new  HOLLAND.   1  il 

spot,  about  wliicli  were  some  reddish  spots;  on  tlie 
crowu  it  had  a  large  hunch  of  long  feathers,  which 
appeared  very  pretty  ;  his  bill  was  like  a  pigeon's ;  he 
had  strong  legs  and  feet,  like  dungliill  fowls,  only  the 
claws  were  reddish ;  his  crop  was  full  of  small  berries. 
It  lays  an  egg  as  big  as  a  large  hen's  egg,  for  our  men 
climbed  the  tree  where  it  nested,  and  brouglit  off  one 
egg.  They  found  water,  and  reported  that  the  trees 
were  large,  tall,  and  very  thick,  and  that  they  saw  no 
sign  of  people.  At  night  ihe  yawl  came  aboard  and 
brought  a  wooden  fish-spear,  very  ingeniously  made,  the 
matter  of  it  was  a  small  cane ;  they  found  it  by  a 
small  barbecue,  where  they  also  saw  a  shattered 
canoe. 

The  next  morning  I  sent  the  boatswain  ashore  fish- 
ing, and  at  one  haul  he  caught  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  mackerel,  and  a]30ut  twenty  other  fishes,  which  I 
caused  to  be  equally  divided  among  all  my  company. 
I  sent  also  the  gunner  and  chief  mate  to  search  about 
if  they  could  find  convenient  anchoring  near  a  water- 
ing-place ;  by  night  they  brought  word  that  they  had 
found  a  fine  stream  of  good  water,  where  the  boat  could 
come  close  to,  and  it  was  ver}^  easy  to  be  filled,  and  that 
the  ship  might  anchor  as  near  to  it  as  I  pleased,  so  I  went 
thither.  The  next  morning,  therefore,  we  anchored  in 
twenty-five  fathom  water,  soft  oozy  ground,  about  a 
mile  from  the  river;  we  got  on  board  three  tuns  of 
water  that  night,  and  caught  two  or  three  pike-fish,  in 
shape  much  like  a  parracota,  but  with  a  longer  snout, 


142        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

soinetliing  resembliug  a  garr,  yet  not  so  long.  The  next 
day  I  sent  the  boat  again  for  water,  and  before  niglit 
all  my  casks  were  full. 

Having  filled  here  about  fifteen  tuns  of  water,  seeing 
we  could  catch  but  little  fi.sh,  and  had  no  other  refresh- 
ments, I  intended  to  sail  next  day,  but  finding  that 
we  wanted  wood,  I  sent  to  cut  some,  and  going  ashore 
to  hasten  it,  at  some  distance  from  the  place  where  our 
men  were,  I  found  a  small  cove,  where  I  saw  two 
barbecues,  which  appeared  not  to  be  above  two  months' 
standing ;  the  spars  were  cut  with  some  sharp  instru- 
ment, so  that,  if  done  by  the  natives,  it  seems  that  they 
have  iron.  On  the  10th,  a  little  after  twelve  o'clock, 
we  weighed  and  stood  over  to  the  north  side  of  the  bay, 
and  at  one  o'clock  stood  out  with  the  wind  at  north 
and  north-north-west.  At  four  we  passed  out  by  a 
White  Island,  which  I  so  named  from  its  many  white 
cliffs,  having  no  name  in  our  drafts.  It  is  about  a 
league  long,  pretty  high,  and  very  woody  ;  it  is  about 
five  miles  from  the  main,  only  at  the  west  end  it 
reaches  within  three  miles  of  it.  At  some  distance  off 
at  sea  the  west  point  appears  like  a  cape-land,  the 
north  side  trends  away  north-north-west,  and  the  east 
side  east-south-east.  This  island  lies  in  latitude  3*^  4' 
south,  and  the  meridian  distance  from  Babao  five 
hundred  and  twelve  miles  east.  After  we  were  out  to 
sea,  we  plied  to  get  to  the  northward,  but  met  with 
such  a  strong  current  against  us,  that  we  got  but 
little,  for  if  the  wind  favoured  us  in  the  night,  that  we 


DAMPIEK'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       143 

got  tkree  or  four  leagues,  we  lost  it  again,  and  were 
driven  as  far  astern  next  morning,  so  that  we  plied 
here  several  days. 

The  14th,  being  past  a  point  of  land  that  we  had 
been  three  days  getting  about,  we  found  little  or  no 
current,  so  that,  having  the  wind  at  north-west-by-west 
and  west-north-west,  we  stood  to  the  northward,  and 
]iad  several  soundings  :  at  three  o'clock  thirty-eight 
fathom,  the  nearest  part  of  ifew  Guinea  being  about 
tliree  leagues'  distance  ;  at  four,  thirty-seven ;  at  five, 
thirty-six;  at  six,  thirty-six;  at  eight,  thirty- three 
fathom ;  then  the  Cape  was  about  four  leagues'  distant, 
so  that  as  we  ran  off  we  found  our  water  shallower  ;  we 
had  then  some  islands  to  the  westward  of  us,  at  about 
four  leagues'  distance, 

A  little  after  noon  we  saw  smoke  on  the  islands  to 
the  west  of  us,  and  having  a  fine  gale  of  wind,  I  steered 
away  for  them.  At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  we 
anchored  in  thirty-five  fathom,  about  two  leagues  from 
an  island,  good  soft  oozy  ground.  We  lay  still  all 
night,  and  saw  fires  ashore.  In  the  morning  we 
weighed  again,  and  ran  farther  in,  thinking  to  have 
shallower  water ;  but  we  ran  within  a  mile  of  the  shore, 
and  came  to  in  thirty-eight  fathom  good  soft  holding 
ground.  While  we  were  under  sail  tw^o  canoes  came  off 
within  call  of  us.  They  spoke  to  us,  but  we  did  not 
understand  their  language  nor  signs.  We  waved  to  them 
to  come  aboard,  and  I  called  to  them  in  the  Malayan 
language  to  do  the  same,  but  they  would  not.  Yet  they 


144        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

came  so  nigh  us  that  we  could  sliow  them  such  things 
as  we  had  to  truck  with  them ;  yet  neither  would  this 
entice  them  to  come  on  board,  but  they  made  signs  for 
us  to  come  ashore,  and  away  they  went.  Then  I  went 
xfter  them  in  my  pinnace,  carrying  with  me  knives, 
beads,  glasses,  hatchets,  &c.  "When  we  came  near  the 
shore,  I  called  to  them  in  the  Malayan  language.  I  saw 
but  two  men  at  first,  the  rest  lying  in  ambush  behind 
the  bushes  ;  but  as  soon  as  I  threw  ashore  some  knives 
and  other  toys,  they  came  out,  flung  down  their 
weapons,  and  came  into  the  water  by  the  boat's  side, 
making  signs  of  friendship  by  pouring  water  on  their 
heads  with  one  hand,  which  they  dipped  into  the  sea. 
The  next  da} ,  in  the  afternoon,  several  other  canoes 
came  aboard,  and  brought  many  roots  and  fruits,  which 
we  purchased. 

The  island  has  no  name  in  our  drafts,  but  the  natives 
call  it  Pulo  Sabuda  ;  it  is  about  three  leagues  long,  and 
two  miles  wide,  more  or  less ;  it  is  of  a  good  height,  so 
as  to  be  seen  eleven  or  twelve  leagues  ;  it  is  very  rocky, 
3^et  above  the  rocks  there  is  good  yellow  and  black 
mould,  not  deep,  yet  producing  plenty  of  good  tall 
trees,  and  bearing  any  fruits  or  roots  which  the  in- 
habitants plant.  I  do  not  know  all  its  produce,  but 
what  we  saw  were  plantains,  cocoa-nuts,  pine-apples, 
oranges,  papaes,  potatoes,  and  other  large  roots.  Here 
are  also  another  sort  of  wild  jacas,  about  the  bigness  of 
a  man's  two  fists,  full  of  stones  or  kernels,  which  eat 
pleasant  enough  when  roasted.     The  libby  tree  grows 


DAMPIEE'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       145 

here  in  the  swampy  valleys,  of  which  they  make  sago 
cakes.  I  did  not  see  them  make  any,  but  was  told  by 
the  inhabitants  that  it  was  made  of  the  pith  of  the 
tree,  in  the  same  manner  I  have  described  in  my 
"  Yoyage  Round  the  World."  They  showed  me  the 
tree  whereof  it  was  made,  and  I  bought  about  forty  of 
the  cakes.  I  bought  also  three  or  four  nutmegs  in  their 
shell,  which  did  not  seem  to  have  been  long  gathered ; 
but  whether  they  be  the  growth  of  this  island  or  not, 
the  natives  would  not  tell  whence  they  had  them,  and 
seem  to  prize  them  very  much.  What  beasts  the 
island  affords  I  know  not,  but  here  are  both  sea  and 
land  fowl.  Of  the  first,  boobies  and  men-of-war  birds 
are  the  chief,  some  goldens,  and  small  milk-white  crab- 
catchers  ;  the  land-fowl  are  pigeons,  about  the  bigness 
of  mountain-pigeons  in  Jamaica,  and  crows  about  the 
bigness  of  those  in  England,  and  much  like  them,  but 
the  inner  part  of  their  feathers  are  white,  and  the  out- 
side black,  so  that  they  appear  all  black,  unless  you 
extend  the  feathers.  Here  are  large  sky-coloured  birds, 
such  as  we  lately  killed  on  New  Gruinea,  and  many 
other  small  birds,  unknown  to  us.  Here  are  likewise 
abundance  of  bats,  as  big  as  young  coneys,  their  necks, 
head,  ears,  and  noses  like  foxes,  tlieir  hair  rough,  that 
about  their  necks  is  of  a  whitish  yellow,  that  on  their 
heads  and  shoulders  black,  their  wings  are  four  feet 
over  from  tip  to  tip  ;  they  smell  like  foxes.  The  fish 
are  bass,  rock-fish,  and  a  sort  of  fish  like  mullets,  old- 
wives,  whip-rays,  and  some  other  sorts  that  I  knew  not ; 


146  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

but  no  great  plenty  of  any,  for  it  is  deep  water  till 
within  less  tlian  a  mile  of  the  shore,  then  there  is  a 
bank  of  coral  rocks,  within  which  you  have  shoal- 
water,  white  clean  sand,  so  there  is  no  good  fishing* 
with  the  seine. 

This  island  lies  in  latitude  2^  43'  south,  and  meridian 
distance  from  port  Babo,  on  the  island  Timor,  four 
hundred  and  eighty-six  miles  :  besides  this  island,  here 
are  nine  or  ten  other  small  islands. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  island  are  a  sort  of  very 
tawny  Indians,  with  long  black  hair,  who  in  their 
manners  differ  but  little  from  the  Mindanayans,  and 
others  of  these  eastern  islands.  These  seem  to  be  the 
chief ;  for  besides  them  we  saw  also  shock  curl  pated 
New  Guinea  negroes,  many  of  which  are  slaves  to  the 
others,  but  I  think  not  all.  They  are  very  poor,  wear  no 
clothes  but  have  a  clout  about  their  middle,  made  of  the 
rinds  of  the  tops  of  palmetto  trees ;  but  the  women  had 
a  sort  of  calico  cloth.  Their  chief  ornaments  are  blue 
and  yellow  beads,  worn  about  their  wrists.  The  men 
arm  themselves  with  bows  and  arrows,  lances,  broad 
swords,  like  those  of  Mindanao ;  their  lances  are  pointed 
with  bone :  they  strike  fish  very  ingeniously  with 
wooden  fish-spears,  and  have  a  very  ingenious  way  of 
making  the  fish  rise  ;  for  they  have  a  piece  of  wood 
curiously  carved,  and  painted  much  like  a  dolphin  (and 
perhaps  other  figures) ;  these  they  let  down  into  the 
water  by  a  line  with  a  small  weight  to  sink  it ;  when 
they  think  it  low  enough,  they  haul  the  line  into  their 


DAMPIER'S   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       147 

boats  very  fast,  and  the  fish  rise  up  after  this  figure, 
and  they  stand  ready  to  strike  them  when  they  are 
near  the  surface  of  the  water.  But  their  chief  liveli- 
hood is  from  their  plantations;  yet  they  have  large 
boats,  and  go  over  to  New  Guinea,  where  they  get 
slaves,  fine  parrots,  &c.,  which  they  carry  to  Goram 
and  exchange  for  calicoes.  One  boat  came  from  thence 
a  little  before  I  arrived  here,  of  whom  I  bought  some 
parrots,  and  would  have  bought  a  slave  but  they  would 
not  barter  for  anything  but  calicoes,  which  I  had  not. 
Their  houses  on  this  side  were  very  small,  and  seemed 
only  to  be  for  necessity ;  but  on  the  other  side  of  the 
island  we  saw  good  large  houses.  Their  prows  are 
narrow,  with  outriggers  on  each  side,  like  other 
Malayans.'  I  cannot  tell  of  what  religion  these  are ; 
but  I  think  they  are  not  Mahometans,  by  their  drinking 
brandy  out  of  the  same  cup  with  us  without  any  scruple. 
At  this  island  we  continued  till  the  20th  instant,  having 
laid  in  store  of  such  roots  and  fruits  as  the  island 
afforded. 

On  the  20th,  at  half  an  hour  after  six  in  the  morning, 
I  weighed,  and  standing  out  we  saw  a  large  boat  full 
of  men  lying  at  the  north  point  of  the  island.  As  we 
passed  by,  they  rowed  towards  their  habitations,  where 
we  supposed  they  had  withdrawn  themselves  for  fear 
of  us,  though  we  gave  them  no  cause  of  terror,  or  for 
some  differences  among  themselves. 

"We  stood  to  the  northward  till  seven  in  the  evening, 
then  saw  a  rippling  ;  and,  the  water  being  discolom-ed. 


148        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

we  sounded,  and  had  but  twenty-two  fatliom.  I  went 
about  and  stood  to  the  westward  till  two  next  morning, 
then  tacked  again,  and  had  these  several  soundings  :  at 
eight  in  the  evening,  twenty-two ;  at  ten,  twenty-five  : 
at  eleven,  twenty-seven ;  at  twelve,  twenty-eight  fathom; 
at  two  in  the  morning,  twenty-six  ;  at  four,  twenty-four ; 
at  six,  twenty-three ;  at  eight,  twenty-eight ;  at  twelve, 
twenty-two. 

"We  passed  by  many  small  islands,  and  among  many 
dangerous  shoals  without  any  remarkable  occurrence 
till  the  4th  of  February,  when  we  got  within  three 
leagues  of  the  north-west  cape  of  New  G-uinea,  called 
by  the  Dutch  Cape  Mabo.  Off  this  cape  there  lies  a 
small  woody  island,  and  many  islands  of  different  sizes 
to  the  north  and  north-east  of  it.  This  j)art  of  New 
Guinea  is  high  land,  adorned  with  tall  trees,  that  ap- 
peared very  green  and  flourishing.  The  cape  itself  is 
not  very  high,  but  ends  in  a  low  sharp  point,  and  on 
either  side  there  appears  another  such  point  at  equal 
distances,  which  makes  it  resemble  a  diamond.  This 
only  appears  when  you  are  abreast  of  the  middle  point, 
and  then  you  have  no  ground  within  three  leagues  of 
the  sliore. 

In  the  afternoon  we  passed  by  the  cape  and  stood 
over  for  the  islands.  Before  it  was  dark  we  were  got 
within  a  league  of  the  westernmost,  but  had  no  ground 
with  fifty  fathom  of  line  :  however,  fearing  to  stand 
nearer  in  the  dark,  we  tacked  and  stood  to  the  east, 
and  plied  all  night.     Th3  next  morning  we  were  got 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       149 

five  or  six  leagues  to  the  eastward  of  that  island,  and, 
having  the  wind  easterly,  we  stood  in  to  the  northward 
among  the  islands,  sounded,  and  had  no  ground ;  then 
I  sent  in  my  boat  to  sound,  and  they  had  ground  with 
fifty  fathom  near  a  mile  from  the  shore.  We  tacked- 
before  the  boat  came  aboard  again,  for  fear  of  a  shoal 
that  was  about  a  mile  to  the  east  of  that  island  the  boat 
went  to,  from  whence  also  a  shoal-point  stretched  out 
itself  till  it  met  the  other  :  they  brought  with  them  such 
a  cockle  as  1  have  mentioned  in  my  "  Yoyage  Round 
tlie  World"  found  near  Celebes,  and  they  saw  many 
more,  some  bigger  than  that  which  they  brought  aboard, 
as  they  said,  and  for  this  reason  I  named  it  Cockle 
Island.  I  sent  them  to  sound  again,  ordering  them  to 
fire  a  musket  if  they  found  good  anchoring  ;  we  were 
then  standing  to  the  southward,  with  a  fine  breeze.  As 
soon  as  they  fired,  I  tacked  and  stood  in ;  they  told  me 
they  had  fifty  fathom  when  they  fired.  I  tacked  again, 
and  made  all  the  sail  I  could  to  get  out,  being  near 
some  rocky  islands  and  shoals  to  leeward  of  us.  The 
breeze  increased,  and  I  thought  we  were  out  of  danger, 
but  having  a  shoal  just  by  us,  and  the  wind  falling 
again,  I  ordered  the  l)oat  to  tow  us,  and  by  their  help 
we  got  clear  from  it.  We  had  a  strong  tide  setting  to 
the  westward. 

At  one  o'clock,  being  past  the  shoal,  and  finding  the 
tide  setting  to  the  westward,  I  anchored  in  thirty-five 
fathom  coarse  sand,  vritli  small  coral  and  shells.  Being 
nearest  to  Cockle  Island,  I  immediately  sent  both  the 


150  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

boats  tliitlier,  one  to  cut  wood,  and  the  other  to  fish. 
At  four  in  the  afternoon,  having  a  small  breeze  at 
south-south-west,  I  made  a  sign  for  my  boats  to  come 
on  board.  They  brought  some  wood,  and  a  few  small 
cockles,  none  of  them  exceeding  ten  pounds'  weight, 
whereas  the  shell  of  the  great  one  weighed  seventy- 
eight  pjounds  ;  but  it  was  now  high  water,  and  therefore 
they  could  get  no  bigger.  They  also  brought  on  board 
some  pigeons,  of  which  we  found  plenty  on  all  the 
islands  where  we  touched  in  these  seas  :  also  in  many 
j)laces  we  saw  many  large  bats,  but  killed  none,  except 
those  I  mentioned  at  Pulo  Sabuda.  As  our  boats  came 
aboard,  we  weighed  and  made  sail,  steering  east-south- 
east as  long  as  the  wind  held.  In  the  morning  we 
found  we  had  got  four  or  five  leagues  to  the  east  of  the 
place  where  we  weighed.  We  stood  to  and  fro  till 
eleven ;  and  finding  that  we  lost  ground,  ancliored  in 
forty-two  fathom  coarse  gravelly  sand,  with  some  coral. 
This  morning  we  thought  we  saw  a  sail. 

In  the  afternoon  I  went  ashore  on  a  small  woody 
island,  about  two  leagues  from  us.  Here  I  found  the 
greatest  number  of  pigeons  that  ever  I  saw  either  in 
the  East  or  West  Indies,  and  small  cockles  in  the  sea 
round  the  island  in  such  quantities  that  we  might  have 
laden  the  boat  in  an  hour's  time.  These  were  not 
above  ten  or  twelve  pounds'  weight.  We  cut  some 
wood,  and  brought  off  cockles  enough  for  all  the  ship's 
company ;  but  having  no  small  shot,  we  could  kill  no 
pigeons.     I  returned  about  four  o'clock,  and  then  my 


DAMPIEE'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       151 

gunner  and  both  mates  went  tliitlier,  and  in  less  than 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  they  killed  and  brought  off 
ten  pigeons.  Here  is  a  tide :  the  flood  sets  west  and 
the  ebb  east,  but  the  latter  is  very  faint  and  but  of 
small  continuance,  and  so  we  found  it  ever  since  we 
came  from  Timor :  the  winds  we  found  easterly,  be- 
tween north-east  and  east-south-east,  so  that  if  these 
continue,  it  is  impossible  to  beat  farther  to  the  eastward 
on  this  coast  against  wind  and  current.  These  easterly 
winds  increased  from  the  time  we  were  in  the  latitude  of 
about  2°  south,  and  as  we  drew  nigher  the  line  they 
hung  more  easterly  :  and  now  being  to  the  north  of  the 
continent  of  New  Guinea,  where  the  coast  lies  east  and 
west,  I  find  the  trade-wind  here  at  east,  which  yet  in 
higher  latitudes  is  usually  at  north-north-west  and 
north-west ;  and  so  I  did  expect  them  here,  it  being  to 
the  south  of  the  line. 

The  7th,  in  the  morning,  I  sent  my  boat  ashore  on 
Pigeon  Island,  and  stayed  till  noon.  In  the  afternoon 
my  men  returned,  brought  twenty-two  pigeons,  and 
many  cockles,  some  very  large,  some  small :  they  also 
brought  one  empty  sheU,  that  weighed  two  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  pounds. 

At  four  o'clock  we  weighed,  having  a  small  westerly 
wind  and  a  tide  with  us  ;  at  seven  in  the  evening  we 
anchored  in  forty -two  fathom,  near  King  William's 
Island,  where  I  went  ashore  the  next  morning,  drank 
His  Majesty's  health,  and  honoured  it  with  his  name. 
It  is  about  two  leagues  and  a  half  in  length,  very  high 


152  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

and  extraordinarilj'  well  clothed  with  woods  ;  the  trees 
are  of  divers  sorts,  most  unknown  to  us,  but  all  very 
gi-een  and  flourishing ;  manv  of  them  had  flowers,  some 
white,  some  puri)le,  others  yellow  :  all  which  smelt  very 
fragrantly  :  the  trees  are  generally  tall  and  straight 
bodied,  and  may  be  fit  for  any  use.  I  saw  one  of  a 
clean  body,  without  knot  or  limb,  sixty  or  seventy  feet 
high  by  estimation ;  it  was  three  of  my  fathoms  about, 
and  kept  its  bigness,  without  any  sensible  decrease, 
even  to  the  top.  The  mould  of  the  island  is  black,  but 
not  deep,  it  being  very  rocky.  On  the  sides  and  top  of 
the  island  are  many  palmetto  trees,  whose  heads  we 
could  discern  over  all  the  other  trees,  but  their  bodies 
we  could  not  see. 

About  one  in  the  afternoon  we  weighed  and  stood  to 
the  eastward,  between  the  main  and  King  William's 
Island,  leaving  the  island  on  our  larboard  side,  and 
sounding  till  we  were  past  the  island-  and  then  we 
had  no  ground.  Here  we  found  the  flood  setting  east- 
by-north,  and  the  ebb  west-by-south  ;  there  were  shoals 
and  small  islands  between  us  and  the  main,  which 
caused  the  tide  to  set  very  inconstantly,  and  make 
many  whirlings  in  the  water;  yet  we  did  not  find  the 
tide  to  set  strong  any  way,  nor  the  water  to  rise  much. 

On  the  9th,  being  to  the  eastward  of  King  William's 
Island,  we  plied  all  day  between  the  main  and  other 
islands,  having  easterly  winds  and  fair  weather  till 
seven  the  next  morning ;  then  we  had  very  hard  rain 
till  eight,  and  saw  many  shoals  of  fish.     We  lay  be- 


DAMPIEU'S  ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       153 

calmed  off  a  pretty  deep  bay  on  New  Guinea,  about 
twelve  or  fourteen  leagues  wide,  and  seven  or  eight 
leagues  deep,  having  low  land  near  its  bottom,  but  high 
land  without.  The  easternmost  part  of  Kew  Guinea 
seen  bore  east-by-south,  distant  twelve  leagues  ;  Cape 
Mabo  west-south-west  half-south,  distant  seven  leagues. 

At  one  in  the  afternoon  it  began  to  rain,  and  con- 
tinued till  six  in  the  evening,  so  that,  having  but  little 
wind  and  most  calms,  we  lay  still  off  the  f  orementioned 
bay,  having  King  William's  Island  still  in  sight, 
though  distant  by  judgment  fifteen  or  sixteen  leagues 
west.  We  saw  many  shoals  of  small  fish,  some  sharks, 
and  seven  or  eight  dolphins,  but  caught  none.  In  the 
afternoon,  being  about  four  leagues  from  the  shore,  we 
saw  an  opening  in  the  land,  which  seemed  to  afford 
good  harbour.  In  the  evening  we  saw  a  large  fire 
there,  and  I  intended  to  go  in  (if  winds  and  weather 
would  permit)  to  get  some  acquaintance  with  the 
natives. 

Since  the  4th  instant  that  we  passed  Cape  Mabo,  to 
the  12th,  we  had  small  easterly  winds  and  calms,  so 
that  we  anchored  several  times,  where  I  made  my  men 
cut  wood,  that  we  might  have  a  good  stock  when  a 
westerly  wind  should  present,  and  so  we  plied  to  the 
eastward,  as  winds  and  currents  would  permit,  having 
not  got  in  all  above  thirty  leagues  to  the  eastward  of 
Cape  Mabo ;  but  on  the  12th,  at  four  in  the  afternoon, 
a  small  gale  sprang  up  at  north-east-by-north,  with 
rain ;    at  five   it   shuffled  about   to   north-west,  from 


154  EAELY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

tlience  to  tlie  south-west,  and  continued  between  those 
two  points  a  pretty  brisk  gale,  so  that  we  made  sail 
and  steered  away  north-east,  till  the  13th,  in  the 
morning,  to  get  about  the  Cape  of  G-ood  Hope.  When 
it  was  day  we  steered  north-east  half  east,  then  north- 
east-by-east till  seven  o'clock,  and,  being  then  seven  or 
eight  leagues  off  shore,  we  steered  away  east,  the  shore 
trending  east-by-south.  We  had  very  much  rain  all 
night,  so  that  we  could  not  carry  much  sail,  yet  we  had 
a  very  steady  gale.  At  eight  this  morning  the  weather 
cleared  up,  and  the  wind  decreased  to  a  fine  top-gallant 
gale,  and  settled  at  west-by-south.  We  had  more  rain 
these  three  days  past,  than  all  the  voyage,  in  so  short  a 
time.  We  were  now  about  six  leagues  from  the  land 
of  !N'ew  Guinea,  which  appeared  very  high ;  and  we 
saw  two  headlands  about  twenty  leagues  asunder,  the 
one  to  the  east  and  the  other  to  the  west,  which  last 
is  called  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  We  found  variation 
east  4°. 

The  15th,  in  the  morning,  between  twelve  and  two 
o'clock,  it  blew  a  very  brisk  gale  at  north-west,  and 
looked  very  black  in  the  south-west.  At  two  it  flew 
about  at  once  to  the  south-south-west,  and  rained  very 
hard.  The  wind  settled  some  time  at  west-south-west, 
and  we  steered  east-north-east  till  three  in  the  morning; 
then  the  wind  and  rain  abating,  we  steered  east-half- 
north  for  fear  of  coming  near  the  land.  Presently 
after,  it  being  a  little  clear,  the  man  at  the  bowsprit  end 
called  out,  "Land  on  our  starboard  bow."  We  looked  out 


DAMPIER's   account   op   new   HOLLAND.       155 

and  saw  it  plain  :  I  presently  sounded,  and  had  but  ten 
fathom,  soft  ground.  The  master,  being  somewhat 
scared,  came  running  in  haste  with  this  news,  and  said 
it  was  best  to  anchor.  I  told  him  no,  but  sound  again ; 
then  we  had  twelve  fathom ;  the  next  cast,  thirteen  and 
a  half ;  the  fourth,  seventeen  fathom ;  and  then  no 
ground  with  fifty  fathom  line.  However,  we  kept  off 
the  island,  and  did  not  go  so  fast  but  that  we  could 
see  any  other  danger  before  we  came  nigh  it ;  for  here 
might  have  been  more  islands  not  laid  down  in  my 
drafts  besides  this,  for  I  searched  all  the  drafts  I  had, 
if  perchance  I  might  find  any  island  in  the  one  which 
was  not  in  the  others,  but  I  could  find  none  near  us. 
When  it  was  day  we  were  a])out  five  leagues  off  the 
land  we  saw ;  but,  T  believe,  not  above  five  miles,  or  at 
most  two  leagues,  off  it  when  we  first  saw  it  in  the 
night. 

This  is  a  small  island,  but  pretty  high ;  I  named  it 
Providence.  About  five  leagues  to  the  southward  of 
this  there  is  another  island,  which  is  called  William 
Scouten's  Island,  and  laid  down  in  our  drafts  :  it  is  a 
high  island,  and  about  twenty  leagues  long. 

It  was  by  mere  providence  that  we  missed  the  small 
island ;  for,  had  not  the  wind  come  to  west-south-west, 
and  blown  hard,  so  that  we  steered  east-north-east,  wo 
had  been  upon  it  by  our  course  that  we  steered  before, 
if  we  could  not  have  seen  it.  This  morning  we  saw 
many  great  trees  and  logs  swim  by  us,  which,  it  is 
probable,  came  out  of  some  great  riA^ers  on  the  main. 


156  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

On  tlie  16tli  we  crossed  tlie  line,  and  found  variation 
6°  26'  east.  The  18tli,  by  my  observation  at  noon,  we 
found  that  we  had  had  a  current  setting  to  the  south- 
ward, and  probably  that  drew  us  in  so  nigh  Scouten's 
Island.  For  this  twenty-four  hours  we  steered  east-by- 
north  with  a  large  wind,  yet  made  but  an  east-by-south 
half  south  course,  though  the  variation  was  not  above 
7°  east. 

The  21st  we  had  a  current  setting  to  the  northward, 
which  is  against  the  true  trade  monsoon,  it  being  now 
near  the  full  moon.  I  did  expect  it  here,  as  in  all 
other  places.  We  had  variation  8*^  45'  east.  The  22nd 
we  found  but  little  current,  if  any ;  it  set  to  the  south- 
ward. 

On  the  23rd,  in  the  afternoon,  we  saw  two  snakes, 
and  the  next  morning  another  passing  by  us,  which 
was  furiously  assaulted  by  two  fishes,  that  had  kept 
us  company  five  or  six  days ;  they  were  shaped  like 
mackerel,  and  were  about  that  bigness  and  length,  and 
of  a  yellow-greenish  colour.  The  snake  swam  away 
from  them  very  fast,  keeping  his  head  above  water ; 
the  fish  snapped  at  his  tail,  but  when  he  turned  him- 
self, that  fish  would  withdraw,  and  another  would 
snap,  so  that  by  turns  they  kept  him  employed,  yet  he 
still  defended  himself,  and  swam  away  a  great  pace, 
till  they  were  out  of  sight. 

The  25th,  betimes  in  the  morning,  we  saw  an  island 
to  the  southward  of  us,  at  about  fifteen  leagues'  distance. 
"We  steered  away  for  it,  supposing  it  to  be  that  which 


DAMPIEE's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       157 

tlie  Dutclicall  Wisliart's  Island;  but,  finding  it  otlier- 
wise,  I  called  it  Matthias,  it  being  that  saint's  day. 
This  island  is  about  nine  or  ten  leagues  long,  moun- 
tainous and  woodj,  witli  many  savannahs,  and  some 
spots  of  land  which  seemed  to  be  cleared. 

At  eight  in  the  evening  we  lay  by,  intending,  if  I 
could,  to  anchor  under  Matthias  Isle;  but  the  next 
morning,  seeing  another  island  about  seven  or  eight 
leagues  to  the  eastward  of  it,  we  steered  away  for  it. 
At  noon  we  came  up  fair  with  its  south-west  end,  in- 
tending to  run  along  by  it  and  anchor  on  the  south- 
east side,  but  the  tornadoes  came  in  so  thick  and  hard 
that  I  could  not  venture  in.  This  island  is  pretty  low 
and  plain,  and  clothed  with  wood  ;  the  trees  were  very 
green,  and  appeared  to  be  large  and  tall,  as  thick  as 
they  could  stand  one  by  another.  It  is  about  two  or 
three  leagues  long,  and  at  the  south-west  point  there  is 
another  small,  low,  woody  island,  about  a  mile  round, 
and  about  a  mile  from  the  other.  Between  them  there 
runs  a  reef  of  rocks  which  joins  them.  (The  biggest 
I  named  Squally  Island.) 

Seeing  we  could  not  anchor  here,  I  stood  away  to 
the  southward,  to  make  the  main ;  but  having  many 
hard  squalls  and  tornadoes,  we  were  often  forced  to 
hand  all  our  sails  and  steer  more  easterly  to  go  before 
it.  On  the  26th  at  four  o'clock  it  cleared  up  to  a  hard 
sky  and  a  brisk  settled  gale ;  then  we  made  as  much 
sail  as  we  could.  At  five  it  cleared  up  over  the  land, 
and  we  saw,  as  we  thoui^ht,  Cape  Solomaswer  bearing 


158  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

south-soutli-east,  distance  ten  leagues.  We  had 
many  great  logs  and  trees  swimming  by  us  all  this 
afternoon,  and  much  grass ;  we  steered  in  south-south- 
east till  six,  then  the  wind  slackened,  and  we  stood  off 
till  seven,  having  little  wind ;  then  we  lay  by  till  ten, 
at  which  time  we  made  sail,  and  steered  away  east  all 
night.  The  next  morning,  as  soon  as  it  was  light,  we 
made  all  the  sail  we  could,  and  steered  away  east-south- 
east, as  the  land  lay,  being  fair  in  sight  of  it,  and  not 
above  seven  leagues'  distance.  We  passed  by  many 
small  low  woody  islands  which  lay  between  us  and  the 
main,  not  laid  down  in  our  drafts.  We  found  variation 
9°   50'  east. 

The  28th  we  had  many  violent  tornadoes,  wind,  rain, 
and  some  spouts,  and  in  the  tornadoes  the  wind  shifted. 
In  the  night  we  'had  'fair  weather,  but  more  lightning 
than  we  had  seen  at  any  time  this  voyage.  This 
morning  vv^e  left  a  large  high  island  on  our  larboard 
side,  called  in  the  Dutch  drafts  Wishart's  Isle,  about 
six  leagues  from  the  main  ;  and,  seeing  many  smokes 
upon  the  main,  I  therefore  steered  towards  it. 

The  mainland  at  this  place  is  high  and  mountainous, 
adorned  with  tall,  flourishing  trees ;  the  sides  of  the 
hills  had  many  large  plantations  and  patches  of  clear 
land,  which,  together  with  the  smoke  we  saw,  were 
certain  signs  of  its  being  well  inhabited ;  and  I  was 
desirous  to  have  some  commerce  with  the  inhabitants. 
Being  nigh  shore,  we  saw  first  one  proa ;  a  little  after, 
two  or  three  more,  and  at  last  a  great  many  boats  came 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       159 

from  all  the  adjacent  bays.  When  they  were  forty-six  in 
number  they  approached  so  near  us  that  we  could  see 
each  other's  signs  and  hear  each  other  speak,  though 
we  could  not  understand  them,  nor  they  us.  They  made 
signs  for  us  to  go  in  towards  the  shore,  pointing  that 
way.  It  was  squally  weather,  which  at  first  made  me 
cautious  of  going  too  near;  but  the  weather  beginning 
to  look  pretty  well,  I  endeavoured  to  get  into  a  bay 
ahead  of  us,  which  we  could  have  got  into  well  enough 
at  first ;  but  while  we  lay  by,  we  were  driven  so  far  to 
leeward  that  now  it  was  more  difficult  to  get  in.  The 
natives  lay  in  their  proas  round  us ;  to  whom  I  showed 
beads,  knives,  glasses,  to  allure  them  to  come  nearer. 
But  they  would  not  come  so  nigh  as  to  receive  anything 
from  us ;  therefore  I  threw  out  some  things  to  them, 
viz.,  a  knife  fastened  to  a  piece  of  board,  and  a  glass 
bottle  corked  up  with  some  beads  in  it,  which  they 
took  up,  and  seemed  well  pleased.  They  often  struck 
their  left  breast  with  their  right  hand,  and  as  often 
held  up  a  black  truncheon  over  their  heads,  which  we 
thought  was  a  token  of  friendship,  wherefore  we  did 
the  like.  And  when  we  stood  in  towards  their  shore, 
they  seemed  to  rejoice  ;  but  when  we  stood  off,  they 
frowned,  yet  kept  us  comi^any  in  their  proas,  still 
X)ointing  to  the  shore.  About  five  o'clock  we  got 
within  the  mouth  of  the  bay,  and  sounded  several  times, 
but  had  no  ground,  though  within  a  mile  of  the  shore. 
The  basin  of  this  bay  was  about  two  miles  within  us, 
into  which  we  might  have  gone;   but  as  I  was  not 


160  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

assured  of  anchorage  there,  so  I  thought  it  not  prudent 
to  run  in  at  this  time,  it  being  near  night,  and  seeing  a 
black  tornado  rising  in  the  west,  which  I  most  feared. 
Besides,  we  had  near  two  hundred  men  in  proas  close 
by  us  ;  and  the  bays  on  the  shore  were  lined  with  men 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  where  there  could  not  be 
less  than  three  or  four  hundred  more.  "What  weapons 
they  had,  we  knew  not,  nor  yet  their  design  ;  therefore 
I  had,  at  their  first  coming  near  us,  got  up  all  our 
small  arms,  and  made  several  put  on  cartouch  boxes,  to 
prevent  treachery.  At  last  I  resolved  to  go  out  again ; 
which,  when  the  natives  in  their  proas  perceived,  they 
began  to  fling  stones  at  us  as  fast  as  they  could,  being 
provided  with  engines  for  that  purpose,  wherefore  I 
named  this  place  Slinger's  Bay  ;  but  at  the  firing  of 
one  gun  they  were  all  amazed,  drew  off,  and  flung 
no  more  stones.  They  got  together,  as  if  consulting 
what  to  do ;  for  they  did  not  make  in  towards  the 
shore,  but  lay  still,  though  some  of  them  were  killed 
or  wounded ;  and  many  more  of  them  had  paid  for 
their  boldness,  but  that  I  was  unwilling  to  cut  off  any 
of  them,  which,  if  I  had  done,  I  could  not  hope  after- 
wards to  bring  them  to  treat  with  me. 

The  next  day  we  sailed  close  by  an  island,  where  we 
saw  many  smokes,  and  men  in  the  bays,  out  of  which 
came  two  or  three  canoes,  taking  much  pains  to  over- 
take us,  but  they  could  not,  though  we  went  with  an 
easy  sail,  and  I  could  not  now  stay  for  them.  As  I 
passed  by  the  south-east  point  I  sounded  several  times 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       IGl 

within  a  mile  of  tlie  Sandy  Bays,  but  Lad  no  ground. 
About  three  leagues  to  the  northward  of  the  south-east 
point  we  opened  a  large,  deep  bay,  secured  from  west- 
north-west  and  south-west  winds.  There  were  two 
other  islands  that  lay  to  the  north-east  of  it,  which 
secured  the  bay  from  north-east  winds;  one  was  but 
small,  yet  woody;  the  other  was  a  league  long,  in- 
habited, and  full  of  cocoa-nut  trees.  I  endeavoured  to 
get  into  this  bay,  but  there  came  such  flaws  off  from 
the  high  land  over  it  that  I  could  not.  Besides,  we 
had  many  hard  squalls,  which  deterred  me  from  it ;  and, 
night  coming  on,  I  would  not  run  any  hazard,  but  bore 
away  to  the  small  inhabited  island,  to  see  if  we  could 
get  anchorage  on  the  east  side  of  it.  When  we  came 
there  we  found  the  island  so  narrow,  that  there  could 
be  no  shelter ;  therefore  I  tacked  and  stood  towards  the 
greater  island  again;  and  being  more  than  midway 
between  both,  I  lay  by,  designing  to  endeavour  for 
anchorage  next  morning.  Between  seven  and  eight  at 
night  we  spied  a  canoe  close  by  us,  and  seeing  no  more, 
suffered  her  to  come  aboard.  She  had  three  men  in 
her,  who  brought  t)ff  five  cocoa-nuts,  for  which  I  gave 
each  of  them  a  knife  and  a  string  of  beads,  to  encourage 
them  to  come  off  again  in  the  morning :  but  before 
these  went  away  we  saw  two  more  canoes  coming; 
therefore  we  stood  away  to  the  northward  from  them, 
and  then  lay  by  again  till  day.  "We  saw  no  more  boats 
this  night,  neither  designed  to  suffer  any  to  come 
aboard  in  the  dark. 
r— 43 


162  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

By  nine  o'clock  the  urxt  morning  we  were  got  witliiu 
a  league  of  the  great  island,  but  were  kept  off  by 
violent  gusts  of  wind.  These  squalls  gave  us  warning 
of  their  approach  by  the  clouds  which  hung  over  the 
mountains,  and  afterwards  descended  to  the  foot  of 
them;  and  then  it  is  we  expect  them  speedily. 

On  the  3rd  of  March,  being  about  five  leagues  to 
leeward  of  the  great  island,  we  saw  the  mainland  ahead, 
and  another  great  high  island  to  leeward  of  us,  distant 
about  seven  leagues,  which  we  bore  away  for.  It  is 
called  in  the  Dutcli  drafts  Garret  Dennis  Isle.  It  is 
about  fourteen  or  fifteen  leagues  round,  high  and 
mountainous,  and  very  woody.  Some  trees  appeared 
very  large  and  tall,  and  the  bays  by  the  seaside  are 
well  stored  with  cocoa-nut  trees,  where  we  also  saw 
some  small  houses.  The  sides  of  the  mountains  are 
th.ick-set  with  plantations,  and  the  mould  in  the  new- 
cleared  land  seemed  to  be  of  a  brown-reddish  colour. 
This  island  is  of  no  regular  figure,  but  is  full  of  points 
shooting  forth  into  the  sea,  between  which  are  many 
sandy  bays,  full  of  cocoa-nut  trees.  The  middle  of  the 
isle  lies  in  3^  10'  south  latitude.  It  is  very  po]3ulous. 
The  natives  are  very  black,  strong,  and  well-limbed 
people,  having  great  round  heads,  their  hair  naturally 
curled  and  short,  which  they  shave  into  several  forms, 
and  dye  it  also  of  d»ivers  colours — viz.,  red,  white,  and 
yellow.  They  have  broad  round  faces,  with  great 
bottle-noses,  yet  agreeable  enough  till  they  disfigure 
them  by  painting,  and  by  wearing  great  things  througli 


DAMPIEE'S   account   of   new    HOLLAND.       163 

their  noses  as  big  as  a  man's  tlmnib,  and  al)ont  four 
inches  long.  These  are  run  clear  through  both  nostrils, 
one  end  coming  out  by  one  cheek-bone,  and  the  other 
end  against  the  other;  and  their  noses  so  stretched 
that  only  a  small  slip  of  them  appears  about  the 
ornament.  They  have  also  great  holes  in  their  ears, 
wherein  they  wear  such  stuff  as  in  their  noses.  They 
are  very  dexterous,  active  fellows  in  their  proas,  which 
are  very  ingeniously  built.  They  are  narrow  and 
long,  with  outriggers  on  one  side,  the  head  and  stern 
liigher  than  the  rest,  and  carved  into  many  devices — 
viz.,  some  fowl,  fish,  or  a  man's  head  painted  or  carved ; 
and  though  it  is  but  rudely  done,  yet  the  resemblance 
appears  plainly,  and  siiows  an  ingenious  fancy.  But 
with  Avhat  instruments  they  make  their  proas  or  carved 
work  I  know  not,  for  they  seem  to  be  utterly  ignorant 
of  iron.  They  have  very  neat  j)addles,  with  which  they 
manage  their  proas  dexterously,  and  make  great  way 
through  tlie  water.  Their  weapons  are  chiefly  lances, 
swords  and  slings,  and  some  bows  and  arrows.  They 
liave  also  wooden  fish-spears  for  striking  fish.  Those 
that  came  to  assault  us  in  Slinger's  Bay  on  the  main  are 
in  all  respects  like  these,  and  I  believe  these  are  alike 
treacherous.  Their  speech  is  clear  and  distinct.  The 
words  they  used  most  when  near  us  were  vacousee 
aUamais,  and  then  they  pointed  to  the  shore.  Their 
signs  of  friendship  are  either  a  great  truncheon,  or 
bough  of  a  tree  full  of  leaves,  put  on  their  heads,  often 
strikiusf  their  heads  with  tlicir  hands. 


164  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

Tlie  next  cLiv,  having  a  fresli  gale  of  wind,  we  got 
under  a  higli  island,  about  four  or  five  leagues  round, 
very  woody,  and  full  of  plantations  upon  the  sides  of 
the  hills;  and  in  the  bays,  by  the  waterside,  ars 
abundance  of  cocoa-nut  trees.  It  lies  in  the  latitude  of 
3^  25'  south,  and  meridian  distance  from  Cape  Mabo 
1,316  miles.  On  the  south-east  part  of  it  are  three  or 
four  other  small  woody  islands,  one  high  and  peaked, 
the  others  low  and  flat,  all  bedecked  with  cocoa-nut 
trees  and  other  wood.  On  the  north  there  is  another 
island  of  an  indifferent  height  and  of  a  somewhat 
larger  circumference  than  the  great  high  island  last 
mentioned.  We  passed  between  this  and  the  high 
island.  The  high  island  is  called  in  the  Dutch  drafts 
Anthony  Cave's  Island.  As  for  the  flat,  low  island, 
and  the  other  small  one,  it  is  probable  they  were  never 
seen  by  the  Dutch,  nor  the  islands  to  the  north  of 
Garret  Dennis's  Island.  As  soon  as  we  came  near 
Cave's  Island  some  canoes  came  about  us,  and  made 
signs  for  us  to  come  ashore,  as  all  the  rest  had  done 
before,  probably  thinking  we  could  run  the  ship  aground 
anywhere,  as  they  did  their  proas,  for  we  saw  neither 
sail  nor  anchor  among  any  of  them,  though  most 
Eastern  Indians  have  both.  These  had  proas  made  of 
one  tree,  well  dug,  with  outriggers  on  one  side ;  they 
were  but  small,  yet  well  shaped.  We  endeavoured  to 
anchor,  but  found  no  ground  within  a  mile  of  the  shore. 
We  kept  close  along  the  north  side,  still  sounding  till 
we  came  to  tlie  north-east  end,  but  foimd  no  ground, 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       165 

tlie  canoes  still  accompanying  us,  and  the  bays  were 
covered  with  men  going  along  as  we  sailed.  Many  of 
tliera  strove  to  swim  off  to  us,  but  we  left  them  astern. 
Being  at  the  north-east  point,  we  found  a  strong 
current  setting  to  the  north-west,  so  that  though  wc 
had  steered  to  keep  under  the  high  island,  yet  we  were 
driven  towards  the  flat  one.  At  this  time  three  of  the 
natives  came  on  board.  I  gave  each  of  them  a  knife, 
a  looking-glass,  and  a  string  of  beads.  I  showed  them 
pumpkins  and  cocoa-nut  shells,  and  made  signs  to 
them  to  bring  some  aboard,  and  had  presently  three 
cocoa-nuts  out  of  one  of  the  canoes.  I  showed  them 
nutmegs,  and  by  their  signs  I  guessed  they  had  some 
on  the  island.  I  also  showed  them  some  gold  dust, 
which  they  seemed  to  know,  and  called  out  "  Manneel, 
Manneel,"  and  pointed  towards  the  land.  A  while  after 
these  men  were  gone,  two  or  three  canoes  came  from 
the  flat  island,  and  by  signs  invited  us  to  their 
island,  at  which  the  others  seemed  displeased,  and  used 
very  menacing  gestures  and,  I  believe,  speeches  to  each 
other.  Night  coming  on,  we  stood  off  to  sea,  and 
having  but  little  wind  all  night,  were  driven  away  ti- 
the north-west.  We  saw  many  great  fires  on  the  flat 
island.  The  last  men  that  came  off  to  us  were  all 
black  as  those  we  liad  seen  before,  with  frizzled  hair. 
They  were  very  tall,  lusty,  well-shappd  men.  They 
wear  great  tilings  in  their  noses,  and  paint  as  the 
others,  but  not  mucli.  They  make  the  same  signs  of 
friendship,  and  their  language  seems  to  be  one ;  but  the 


1G6  EAKLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

others  had  proas,  and  these  canoes.  On  the  sides  of 
some  of  these  we  saw  the  figures  of  several  fish  neatly 
cut,  and  these  last  were  not  so  shy  as  the  otliers. 

Steering  away  from  Cave's  Island  south-south-east, 
we  found  a  strong  current  against  us,  which  set  only  in 
some  places  in  streams,  and  in  them  we  saw  many  trees 
and  logs  of  wood,  which  drove  by  us.  "We  had  but 
little  wood  aboard ;  wherefore  I  hoisted  out  the  joinnace, 
and  sent  her  to  take  up  some  of  this  drift-wood.  In  a 
little  time  she  came  aboard  with  a  great  tree  in  tow, 
which  we  could  hardly  hoist  in  with  all  our  tackles. 
We  cut  up  the  tree  and  split  it  for  firewood.  It  wa.s 
much  worm-eaten,  and  had  in  it  some  live  worms  above 
an  inch  long,  and  about  the  bigness  of  a  goose-quill,  and 
having  their  heads  crusted  over  with  a  thin  shell. 

After  this  we  passed  by  an  island,  called  by  the 
Dutcli  St.  John's  Island,  leaving  it  to  the  north  of  us. 
It  is  about  nine  or  ten  leagues  roimd,  and  very  well 
adorned  with  lofty  trees.  "We  saw  many  plantations 
on  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  abundance  of  cocoa-nut 
trees  about  them,  as  also  thick  groves  on  the  bays  by 
the  seaside.  As  we  came  near  it  three  canoes  came  off 
to  us,  but  would  not  come  aboard.  They  were  such  as 
we  had  seen  about  the  other  islands.  They  spoke  the 
same  language,  and  made  the  same  signs  of  peace,  and 
their  canoes  were  sucli  as  at  Cave's  Island. 

We  stood  along  by  St.  John's  Island  tiU  we  camo 
almost  to  the  south-east  point,  and  then,  seeing  no 
more  islands  to  the  eastward  of  us,  nor  any  likelihood 


DAMPIEE's   account   of   new    HOLLAND.       167 

of  anchoring  under  this,  I  steered  away  for  the  main  oi 
Xew  Guinea,  we  being  now,  as  I  supposed,  to  the  east 
of  it,  on  this  north  side.  My  design  of  seeing  these 
isLinds  as  I  j)assed  along  Avas  to  get  wood  and  water, 
but  could  find  no  anchor  ground,  and  therefore  could 
not  do  as  I  purposed ;  besides,  these  islands  are  all  so 
populous,  that  I  dared  not  send  my  boat  ashore,  unless 
I  could  have  anchored  pretty  nigh ;  wherefore  I  rather 
chose  to  prosecute  my  design  on  the  main,  the  season 
of  the  year  being  now  at  hand,  for  I  judged  the  westerly 
winds  were  nigh  spent. 

On  the  8th  of  March  we  saw  some  smoke  on  the 
main,  being  distant  from  it  four  or  five  leagues.  It  is 
very  high,  woody  land,  with  some  spots  of  savannah. 
About  ten  in  the  morning  six  or  seven  canoes  came  off 
to  us.  Most  of  them  had  no  more  than  one  man  in 
them.  They  were  all  black,  with  short  curled  hair, 
having  the  same  ornaments  in  their  noses,  and  their 
heads  so  shaved  and  painted,  and  speaking  the  same 
words  as  the  inhabitants  of  Cave's  Island  before 
mentioned. 

There  was  a  headland  to  the  southward  of  us, 
beyond  which,  seeing  no  land,  I  supposed  that  from 
thence  the  land  trends  away  more  westerly.  This 
headland  lies  in  the  latitude  of  5°  2'  south,  and 
meridian  distance  from  Cape  Mabo  1,290  miles.  In 
the  night  we  lay  by,  for  fear  of  overshooting  this 
headland,  between  wliich  and  Cape  St.  Maries  tlie 
land  is  high,  mountainous  and  woody,   having  many 


168  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

points  of  land  sliooting  out  into  the  sea,  wliicli  make 
so  many  fine  bays ;  the  coast  lies  north-north-east  and 
south-south-west. 

The  9th,  in  the  morning  a  huge  black  man  came  off 
to  us  in  a  canoe,  but  would  not  come  aboard.  He 
made  the  same  signs  of  friendship  to  us  as  the  rest  we 
had  met  with ;  yet  seemed  to  differ  in  his  language, 
not  using  any  of  those  words  which  the  others  did. 
We  saw  neither  smoke  nor  plantations  near  this  head- 
land.    We  found  here  variation  1°  east. 

In  the  afternoon,  as  we  plied  near  the  shore,  three 
canoes  came  off  to  us ;  one  had  four  men  in  her,  the 
others  two  apiece.  That  with  the  four  men  came 
pretty  nigh  us,  and  showed  us  a  cocoa-nut  and  water 
in  a  bamboo,  making  signs  that  there  was  enough 
ashore  where  they  lived ;  they  pointed  to  the  place 
where  they  would  have  us  go,  and  so  went  away.  We 
saw  a  small  round  pretty  high  island  about  a  league 
to  the  north  of  this  headland,  within  which  there  was 
a  large  deep  bay,  whither  the  canoes  went;  and  we 
strove  to  get  thither  before  night,  but  could  not ; 
wherefore  we  stood  off,  and  saw  land  to  the  westward 
of  this  headland,  bearing  west-by-south-half-south, 
distance  about  ten  leagues,  and,  as  we  thought,  still 
more  land  bearing  south-west-by-south,  distance  twelve 
or  fourteen  leagues,  but  being  clouded,  it  disappeared, 
and  we  thought  we  had  been  deceived.  Before  night 
we  opened  the  headland  fair,  and  I  named  it  Cape  St. 
George.    The  land  from  hence  trends  asvay  west-north- 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       169 

west  about  ten  leagues,  wliicli  is  as  far  as  we  could  see 
it ;  and  the  land  that  wo  saw  to  the  westward  of  it  in 
the  evening,  which  bore  west-by-south-half -south,  was 
another  point  about  ten  leagues  from  Cape  St.  George  ; 
between  which  there  runs  in  a  deep  bay  for  twenty 
leagues  or  more.  We  saw  some  high  land  in  spots 
like  islands,  down  in  that  bay  at  a  great  distance ;  but 
whether  they  are  islands,  or  the  main  closing  there 
we  know  not.  The  next  morning  we  saw  other  land 
to  the  south-east  of  the  westernmost  point,  which  till 
then  was  clouded ;  it  was  very  high  land,  and  the 
same  that  we  saw  the  day  before,  that  disappeared  in  a 
cloud.  This  Cape  St.  George  lies  in  the  latitude  of 
5°  5' south;  and  meridian  distance  from  Cape  Mabo 
1,290  miles.  The  island  off  this  cape  I  called  St. 
George's  Isle;  and  the  bay  between  it  and  the  west 
point.  I  named  St.  George's  Bay,  [Note  : — No  Dutch 
drafts  go  so  far  as  this  cape  by  ten  leagues.]  On  the 
10th,  in  the  evening,  we  got  within  a  league  of  the 
westernmost  laud  seen,  whicli  is  pretty  high  and  very 
woody,  but  no  appearance  of  anchoring.  I  stood  oif 
again,  designing,  if  possible,  to  ply  to  and  fro  in  this 
bay  till  I  found  a  couveniency  to  wood  and  water. 
We  saw  no  more  plantations  nor  cocoa-nut  trees ;  yet 
in  the  night  we  discerned  a  small  fire  right  against  us. 
The  next  morning  we  saw  a  burning  mountain  in 
the  country.  It  was  round,  high,  and  peaked  at  top, 
as  most  volcanoes  are,  and  sent  forth  a  great  quan- 
tity of  smoke.     We  took  up  a  log  of  driftwood,  and 


170  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

split  it  for  firing;  iu  wliicli  we  foimd  some  small 
fish. 

The  day  after  we  passed  by  the  south-west  cape  of 
this  bay,  leaving  it  to  the  north  of  us.  When  we  were 
abreast  of  it  I  called  my  officers  together,  and  named 
it  Cape  Orf  ord,  in  honour  of  my  noble  patron,  drinking 
his  Lordship's  health.  This  cape  bears  from  Cape  St. 
George  south-west  about  eighteen  leagues.  Between 
them  there  is  a  bay  about  twenty-five  leagues  deep, 
having  pretty  high  land  all  round  it,  especially  near 
the  capes,  though  they  themselves  are  not  high.  Cape 
Orford  lies  in  the  latitude  of  5°  24'  south,  by  my  ob- 
servation ;  and  meridian  distance  from  Cape  St. 
George,  forty-four  miles  west.  The  land  trends  from 
this  cape  north-west  by  west  into  the  bay,  and  on  the 
other  side  south-west  per  compass,  which  is  south-west 
9^  west,  allowing  the  variation,  which  is  here  9°  east. 
The  land  on  each  side  of  the  cape  is  more  savannah 
than  woodland,  and  is  liighest  on  the  north-west  side. 
The  cape  itself  is  a  bluff-point,  of  an  indifferent 
height,  with  a  flat  tableland  at  top.  When  we  were 
to  the  south-west  of  the  cape,  it  appeared  to  be  a  low 
point  shooting  out,  which  you  cannot  see  when  abreast 
of  it.  This  morning  we  struck  a  log  of  driftwood 
with  our  turtle-irons,  hoisted  it  in,  and  split  it  for 
firewood.  Afterwards  we  struck  another,  but  could 
not  get  it  in.     There  were  many  fisli  about  it. 

We  steered  along  south-west  as  the  land  lies,  keep- 
ing about  six  leagues  off  the  shore ;  and,  being  desirous 


DAMPIER's  account  of  new  HOLLAND.   171 

to  cut  wood  aud  fill  water,  if  I  saw  any  conveniency,  I 
lay  by  in  the  niglit,  because  I  would  not  miss  any 
place  proper  for  tliose  ends,  for  fear  of  wanting  such 
necessaries  as  we  could  not  live  without.  This  coast  is 
high  and  mountainous,  and  not  so  thick  with  trees  as 
that  on  the  other  side  of  Cape  Orford. 

On  the  14th,  seeing  a  pretty  deep  bay  ahead,  aud 
some  islands  where  I  thought  we  might  ride  secure, 
we  ran  in  towards  the  shore  and  saw  some  smoke. 
At  ten  o'clock  we  saAV  a  point  which  shot  out  pretty 
well  into  the  sea,  with  a  bay  within  it,  wliich  promised 
fair  for  water;  and  we  stood  in  with  a  moderate  gale. 
Being  got.  into  the  bay  within  the  point,  we  saw  many 
cocoa-nut-trees,  plantations,  and  houses.  When  I  came 
within  four  or  five  miles  of  the  shore,  six  small  boats 
came  off  to  view  us,  with  about  forty  men  in  them  all. 
Perceiving  that  they  only  came  to  view  us,  and  would 
not  come  aboard,  I  made  signs  and  waved  to  them  to 
go  ashore  ;  but  they  did  not  or  would  not  understand 
me ;  therefore  I  whistled  a  shot  over  their  heads  out 
of  my  fowling-piece,  and  then  they  pulled  away  for 
the  shore  as  hard  as  they  could.  These  were  no 
sooner  asliore,  than  we  sa^^  three  boats  coming  from 
the  islands  to  leeward  of  us,  and  tliey  soon  came 
within  call,  for  we  lay  becalmed.  One  of  the-  boats 
liad  about  forty  men  in  her,  and  was  a  large,  well- 
built  boat ;  the  other  two  were  but  small.  Not  long 
after,  I  saw  another  boat  coming  out  of  the  bay 
where  I  intended  to  go  ;  she  likewise  was  a  large  boat. 


172  EARLY   AUSTr.ALIAN   VOYAGES. 

"with  a  liigli  head  and  stem  painted,  and  full  of  men. 
This  I  thougiit  came  off  to  fight  us,  as  it  is  probable 
they  all  did;  therefore  I  fired  another  small  shot  over 
the  great  boat  that  was  nigh  us,  -which  made  them 
leave  their  babbling  and  take  to  their  paddles.  We 
still  lay  becalmed ;  and  therefore  they,  rowing  wide  of 
us,  directed  their  course  towards  the  other  great  boat 
that  was  coming  off.  When  they  were  pretty  near  each 
other  I  caused  the  gunner  to  fire  a  gun  between  them, 
which  he  did  very  dexterously;  it  was  loaded  with 
round  and  partridge  shot;  the  last  dropped  in  the 
water  somewhat  short  of  them,  but  the  round  shot 
went  between  both  boats,  and  grazed  about  one 
hundred  yards  beyond  them.  This  so  affrighted  them 
that  they  both  rowed  away  for  the  shore  as  fast  as 
they  could,  without  coming  near  each  other ;  and  the 
little  boats  made  the  best  of  their  way  after  them. 
And  now,  having  a  gentle  breeze  at  soath-south-east, 
we  bore  into  the  bay  after  them.  When  we  came  by 
*he  point,  I  saw  a  great  number  of  men  peeping  from 
'inder  the  rocks :  I  ordered  a  shot  to  be  fired  close  by, 
.0  scare  them.  The  shot  grazed  between  us  and  the 
point,  and,  mounting  again,  flew  over  the  point,  and 
grazed  a  second  time  just  by  them.  We  were  obliged 
to  sail  along  close  by  the  bays ;  and,  seeing  multitudes 
sitting  under  the  trees,  I  ordered  a  third  gun  to  be  fired 
among  the  cocoa-nut-trees  to  scare  them;  for  my  business 
being  to  wood  and  water,  I  thought  it  necessary  to  strike 
some  ten orinto  the  inhabitants,  who  were  very  numerous. 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       173 

and  (by  what  I  saw  now,  and  had  formerly  experienced) 
treacherous.  After  this  I  sent  my  ]3oat  to  sound ;  they 
had  first  forty,  then  thirty,  and  at  Last  twenty  fathom 
water.  We  followed  the  boat,  and  came  to  anchor 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  shore,  in  twenty-six 
fathom  water,  fine  black  sand  and  ooze.  "We  rode  right 
against  the  mouth  of  a  small  river,  where  I  hoped  to 
find  fresh  water.  Some  of  the  natives  standing  on  a 
small  point  at  the  river's  mouth,  I  sent  a  small  shot 
over  their  heads  to  frighten  them,  which  it  did  effectu- 
ally. In  the  afternoon  I  sent  my  boat  ashore  to  the 
natives  who  stood  upon  the  point  by  the  river's  mouth 
with  a  present  of  cocoa-nuts  ;  when  the  boat  was  come 
near  the  shore,  they  came  running  into  the  water,  and 
put  their  nuts  into  the  boat.  Then  I  made  a  signal 
for  the  boat  to  come  aboard,  and  sent  both  it  and  the 
yawl  into  the  river  to  look  for  fresh  water,  ordering 
the  pinnace  to  lie  near  the  river's  mouth,  while  the 
yawl  went  up  to  search.  In  an  hour's  time  they 
returned  aboard  with  some  barrecoes  full  fresh  of  water, 
which  they  had  taken  up  about  half  a  mile  up  the 
river.  After  which  I  sent  them  again  with  casks, 
ordering  one  of  them  to  fill  water,  and  the  other  to 
watch  the  motions  of  the  natives,  lest  they  should 
make  any  opposition.  But  tliey  did  not,  and  so  the 
boats  returned  a  little  before  sunset  with  a  tun  and  a 
half  of  water ;  and  the  next  day  by  noon  brought 
aboard  about  six  tuns  of  water. 

I   sent  ashore    commodities  to  purchase  hogs,  &c. 


174  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN    VOYAGES. 

being  informed  tliat  the  natives  have  plenty  of  them, 
as  also  of  yams  and  other  good  roots ;  but  my  men 
returned  without  getting  anything  that  I  sent  them 
for,  the  natives  being  unwilling  to  trade  with  us.  Yet 
they  admired  our  hatchets  and  axes,  but  would  part 
with  nothing  but  cjcoa-nuts,  which  they  used  to  climb 
the  trees  for ;  and  so  soon  as  they  gave  them  our  men. 
they  beckoned  to  them  to  be  gone,  for  they  were  much 
afraid  of  us. 

The  18th  I  sent  both  boats  again  for  water,  and 
before  noon  they  had  filled  all  my  casks.  In  the 
afternoon  I  sent  them  both  to  cut  wood ;  but  seeing 
about  forty  natives  standing  on  the  bay  at  a  small 
distance  from  our  men,  I  made  a  signal  for  them  to 
come  aboard  again,  which  they  did,  and  brought  me 
word  that  the  men  which  we  saw  on  the  bay  were 
passing  that  way,  but  were  afraid  to  come  nigh  them. 
At  four  o'clock  I  sent  both  the  boats  again  for  more 
wood,  and  they  returned  in  the  evening.  Then  I  called 
my  officers  to  consult  whether  it  were  convenient  to 
stay  here  longer,  and  endeavom-  a  better  acquaintance 
with  these  people,  or  go  to  sea.  My  design  of  tarrying 
here  longer  was,  if  i)ossible,  to  get  some  hogs,  goats. 
yams,  or  other  roots,  as  also  to  get  some  knowledge  of 
the  country  and  its  product.  My  officers  unanimously 
gave  their  opinions  for  staying  longer  here.  So  the 
next  day  I  sent  both  boats  ashore  again,  to  fish  and  to 
cut  more  wood.  While  they  were  ashore  about  thirty 
or  forty  men  and  v\-omen  passed  by  them ;  they  were  a 


DAM  PIE  R  S   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW    HOLLAND.       i/5 

little  afraid  of  our  people  at  first,  but  upon  their 
making  signs  of  friendship,  they  passed  by  qnietly,  the 
men  finely  bedecked  with  feathers  of  divers  colours 
about  their  heads,  and  lances  in  their  hands ;  the 
women  had  no  ornament  about  them,  nor  anything  to 
cover  their  nakedness  but  a  bunch  of  small  green 
boughs  before  and  behind,  stuck  under  a  string  which 
came  round  their  waists.  They  carried  large  baskets 
on  their  heads,  full  of  yams.  And  this  I  have  observed 
amongst  all  the  wild  natives  I  have  known,  that  they 
make  their  women  carry  the  burdens  while  the  men 
walk  before,  without  any  other  load  than  their  arms 
and  ornaments.  At  noon  our  men  came  aboard  with 
the  wood  they  had  cut,  and  had  caught  but  six  fishes 
at  four  or  five  hauls  of  the  seine,  though  we  saw 
abundance  of  fish  leaping  in  the  bay  all  the  day  long. 

In  the  afternoon  I  sent  the  boats  ashore  for  more 
wood ;  and  some  of  our  men  went  to  the  natives' 
houses,  and  found  they  were  now  more  shy  than  they 
used  to  be,  had  taken  down  all  the  cocoa-nuts  from 
the  trees,  and  driven  away  their  hogs.  Our  people 
made  signs  to  them  to  know  what  was  become  of  their 
hogs,  &c.  The  natives  pointing  to  some  houses  in  the 
bottom  of  the  bay,  and  imitating  the  noise  of  those 
creatures,  seemed  to  intimate  that  there  were  both  hogs 
and  goats  of  several  sizes,  wliich  they  expressed  by 
holding  their  hands  abroad  at  several  distances  from 
the  ground. 

At  night  our  boats  came  aboard  with  wood,  and  the 


176  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

next  morning  I  went  myself  witli  both  boats  up  the 
river  to  the  watering-place,  carrying  with  me  all  such 
trifles  and  iron- work  as  I  thought  most  proper  to  induce 
them  to  a  commerce  with  us  ;  but  I  found  them  very  shy 
and  roguish.  I  saw  but  two  men  and  a  boy.  One  of 
the  men,  by  some  signs,  was  persuaded  to  come  to  the 
boat's  side,  where  I  was  ;  to  him  I  gave  a  knife,  a 
string  of  beads,  and  a  glass  bottle.  The  fellow  called 
out,  "  Cocos,  cocos,"  pointing  to  a  village  hard  by,  and 
signified  to  us  that  he  would  go  for  some;  but  he 
never  returned  to  us  :  and  thus  they  had  frequently  of 
late  served  our  men.  I  took  eight  or  nine  men  with 
me,  and  marched  to  their  houses,  which  I  found  very 
mean,  and  their  doors  made  fast  with  withies. 

I  visited  three  of  their  villages,  and,  fijiding  all  the 
houses  thus  abandoned  by  the  inhabitants,  who  car- 
ried with  them  all  their  hogs,  &c.,  I  brought  out  of 
their  houses  some  small  fishing-nets  in  recompense  for 
those  things  they  had  received  of  us.  As  we  were 
coming  away  we  saw  two  of  the  natives ;  I  showed 
them  the  things  that  we  carried  with  us,  and  called  to 
them,  "  Cocos,  cocos,"  to  let  them  know  that  I  took 
these  things  because  they  had  not  made  good  what  they 
had  promised  by  their  signs,  and  by  their  calling  out 
"  Cocos."  While  I  was  thus  employed  the  men  in  the 
yawl  filled  two  hogsheads  of  water,  and  all  the  barre- 
coes.  About  one  in  the  afternoon  I  came  aboard,  and 
found  all  my  officers  and  men  very  importunate  to  go 
to  that  bay  where  the  hogs  were  said  to  be.     I  was 


DAMPIER'S   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       177 

loth  to  yield  to  it,  f  eariug  they  would  deal  too  roughly 
with  the  natives.  By  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
many  black  clouds  gathered  over  the  laud,  which  I 
thought  would  deter  them  from  their  enterprise ;  but 
they  solicited  me  the  more  to  let  them  go.  At  last  I 
^^asented,  sending  those  commodities  I  had  ashore 
with  me  in  the  morning,  and  giving  them  a  strict 
charge  to  deal  by  fair  means,  and  to  act  cautiously  for 
their  own  security.  The  bay  I  sent  them  to  was  about 
two  miles  from  the  ship.  As  soon  as  they  were  gone, 
I  got  all  things  ready,  that,  if  I  saw  occasion,  I  might 
assist  them  with  my  great  guns.  When  they  came  to 
land,  the  natives  in  great  companies  stood  to  resist 
them,  shaking  their  lances,  and  threatening  them,  and 
some  were  so  daring  as  to  wade  into  the  sea,  holding  a 
target  in  one  hand  and  a  lance  in  the  other.  Our  men 
held  up  to  them  such  commodities  as  I  had  sent,  and 
made  signs  of  friendship,  but  to  no  purpose,  for  the 
natives  waved  them  off.  Seeing,  tlierefore,  they  could 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  a  friendly  commerce,  my 
men,  being  resolved  to  have  some  provision  among 
them,  fired  some  muskets  to  scare  them  away,  which 
had  the  desired  effect  upon  all  but  two  or  three,  who 
stood  still  in  a  menacing  posture,  till  the  boldest 
dropped  his  target  and  ran  away.  They  supposed  he 
was  shot  in  the  arm;  he  and  some  others  felt  the 
smart  of  our  bullets,  but  none  were  killed,  our  design 
being  rather  to  frigliten  than  to  kill  them.  Our  men 
landed,  and  found  abundance  of  tame  hogs  running 


178  EAULY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

among  the  lionses.  They  shot  down  nine,  which  they 
brought  away,  besides  many  that  ran  away  wounded. 
They  had  but  little  time,  for  in  less  than  an  hour  after 
they  went  from  the  ship  it  began  to  rain ;  wherefore 
they  got  what  they  could  into  the  boats,  for  I  had 
charged  them  to  come  away  if  it  rained.  By  the  time 
the  boat  was  aboard  and  the  hogs  taken  in  it  cleared 
up,  and  my  men  desired  to  make  another  trip  thither 
before  night ;  this  was  about  fiye  in  the  evening,  and  I 
consented,  giving  them  orders  to  repair  on  board 
before  night.  In  the  close  of  the  evening  they 
returned  accordingly,  with  eight  hogs  more,  and  a 
little  live  -pig ;  and  by  this  time  the  other  hogs  were 
jerked  and  salted.  These  that  came  last  we  only 
dressed  and  corned  till  morning,  and  then  sent  both 
boats  ashore  for  more  refreshments  either  of  hogs  or 
roots  ;  but  in  the  niglit  the  natives  had  conveyed  away 
their  provisions  of  all  sorts.  Many  of  them  were  now 
about  the  houses,  and  none  offered  to  resist  our  boats 
landing,  but,  on  the  contrary,  were  so  amicable,  that 
one  man  brought  ten  or  twelve  cocoa-nuts,  left  them 
on  the  shore  after  he  had  shown  them  to  our  men,  and 
went  out  of  sight.  Our  people,  finding  nothing  but 
nets  and  images,  brought  some  of  them'  away,  which 
two  of  my  men  brought  aboard  in  a  small  canoe,  and 
presently  after  my  boats  came  off.  I  ordered  the 
boatswain  to  take  care  of  the  nets  till  we  came  at  some 
place  where  they  might  be  disposed  of  for  some  re- 
freshment  for  the  use  of  all  the  company.  The  images 
I  took  into  mv  own  custody. 


DAMPIEE's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       179 

111  the  afternoon  I  sent  the  canoe  to  the  place  from 
whence  .  she  had  been  brought,  and  in  her  two  axes, 
two  hatchets  (one  of  them  helved),  six  knives, 
six  looking-glasses,  a  large  bunch  of  beads,  and 
four  glass  bottles.  Our  men  drew  the  canoe  ashore, 
placed  the  things  to  the  best  advantage  in  her, 
and  came  off  in  the  pinnace  which  I  sent  to  guard 
them  ;  and  now,  being  well-stocked  with  wood  and  all 
my  water-casks  full,  I  resolved  to  sail  the  next  morn- 
ing. All  the  time  of  our  stay  here  we  had  very  fair 
weather,  only  sometimes  in  the  afternoon  we  had  a 
shower  of  rain,  which  lasted  not  above  an  hour  at 
most ;  also  some  thunder  and  lightning,  with  very  little 
wind ;  we  had  sea  and  land  breezes,  the  former  between 
the  south-south-east,  and  the  latter  from  north-east  to 
north-west. 

This  place  I  named  Port  Montague  in  honour  of  my 
noble  patron :  it  lies  in  the  latitude  of  6^  10'  south, 
and  meridian  distance  from  Cape  St.  George  151  miles 
west.  Tlie  country  hereabouts  is  mountainous  and 
woody,  full  of  rich  valleys  and  pleasant  fresh-water 
brooks.  The  mould  in  the  valleys  is  deep  and  yellow- 
ish, that  on  the  sides  of  the  hill  of  a  very  brown 
colour,  and  not  very  deep,  but  rocky  underneath,  yet 
excellent  planting  land.  The  trees  in  general  are 
neither  very  straight,  thick,  nor  tall,  yet  appear  green 
and  pleasant  enough ;  some  of  them  bore  flowers, 
some  berries,  and  others  big  fruits,  but  all  un- 
known to  any  of  us  ;    cocoa-nut  trees  thrive  very  well 


180  EASLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

here,  as  well  on  the  bays  by  tlie  sea-side,  as  more 
remote  among  the  plantations;  the  nuts  are  of  an 
indifferent  size,  the  milk  and  kernel  very  thick  and 
pleasant.  Here  is  ginger,  yams,  and  other  very  good 
roots  for  the  pot,  that  our  men  saw  and  tasted ;  wliat 
other  fruits  or  roots  the  country  affords  I  know  not. 
Here  are  hogs  and  dogs ;  other  land- animals  we  saw 
none.  The  fowls  we  saw  and  knew  were  pigeons, 
parrots,  cockatoos,  and  crows  like  those  in  England; 
a  sort  of  birds  about  the  bigness  of  a  blackbird,  and 
smaller  birds  many.  The  sea  and  rivers  have  plenty 
of  fish  ;  we  saw  abundance,  though  we  caught  but  few, 
and  these  were  cavallies,  yellow-tails,  and  whip-rays. 

We  departed  from  hence  on  the  22nd  of  March,  and 
on  the  24th,  in  the  evening,  we  saw  some  high  land 
bearing  north-west  half -west,  to  the  west  of  which  we 
could  see  no  land,  though  there  appeared  something 
like  laud  bearing  west  a  little  southerly,  but  not  being 
sure  of  it,  I  steered  west-north-west  all  night,  and  kept 
going  on  with  an  easy  sail,  intending  to  coast  along  the 
shore  at  a  distance.  At  ten  o'clock  I  saw  a  great  fire 
bearing  north-west-by-west,  blazing  up  in  a  pillar, 
sometimes  very  high  for  three  or  four  minutes,  then 
falling  quite  down  for  an  equal  space  of  time,  sometimes 
hardly  visible,  till  it  blazed  up  again.  I  had  laid  me 
down,  having  been  indisposed  these  three  days;  but 
upon  a  sight  of  this,  my  chief  mate  called  me ;  I  got 
up  and  viewed  it  for  about  half  an  hour,  and  knew  it  to 
be  a  burning  hill  by  its  intervals  :  I  charged  them  to 


DAMriERS   ACCOUNT   OF   NEW   HOLLAND.       181 

look  well  out,  having  bright  moonlight.  In  the  morning 
I  found  that  the  fire  we  had  seen  the  night  before  was 
•I  burning  island,  and  steered  for  it.  We  saw  many 
other  islands,  one  large  high  island,  and  another  smaller 
but  pretty  high.  I  stood  near  the  volcano,  and  many 
small  low  islands,  with  some  shoals. 

March  the  25th,  1700,  in  the  evening  we  came  within 
three  leagues  of  this  burning  hill,  being  at  the  same 
time  two  leagues  from  the  main ;  I  found  a  good 
channel  to  i)ass  between  them,  and  kept  nearer  the 
main  than  the  island.  At  seven  in  the  evening  I 
sounded,  and  had  fifty-two  fathom  fine  sand  and  ooze, 
I  stood  to  the  northward  to  get  clear  of  this  strait, 
having  but  little  wind  and  fair  weather.  The  island 
all  night  vomited  fire  and  smoke  very  amazingly,  and 
at  every  belch  we  heard  a  dreadful  noise  like  thunder, 
and  saw  a  flame  of  fire  after  it  the  most  terrifying  that 
ever  I  saw ;  the  intervals  between  its  belches  were 
about  half  a  minute,  some  more,  others  less ;  neither 
were  these  pulses  or  eruptions  alike,  for  some  were  but 
faint  convulsions,  in  comparison  of  tlie  more  vigorous  ; 
yet  even  the  weakest  vented  a  great  deal  of  fire ;  but 
tlie  largest  made  a  roaring  noise,  and  sent  up  a  large 
flame,  twenty  or  thirty  yards  high ;  and  then  might  be 
seen  a  great  stream  of  fire  running  down  to  the  foot  of 
the  island,  even  to  the  shore.  From  the  furrows  made 
by  this  descending  fire,  we  could,  in  the  day  time,  see 
great  smoke  arise,  which  probably  were  made  by  tlie 
sulphurous  matter  thrown  out  of  the  funnel  at  the  top. 


182  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN    VOV'AGES. 

wliicli  tumbling  down  to  tlie  bottom,  and  there  lying 
in  a  heap,  burned  till  either  consumed  or  extinguished  ; 
and  as  long  as  it  burned  and  kept  its  heat,  so  long  the 
smoke  ascended  from  it ;  which  we  perceived  to  increase 
or  decrease,  according  to  the  quantity  of  matter  dis- 
charged from  tlie  funnel:  but  the  next  night,  being 
shot  to  the  westward  of  the  burning  island,  and  the 
funnel  of  it  lying  on  the  south  side,  we  could  not 
discern  the  fire  there,  as  we  did  the  smoke  in  the 
the  day  when  we  were  to  the  southward  of  it.  This 
volcano  lies  in  the  latitude  of  5°  33'  south,  and  meridian 
distance  from  Cape  St.  George,  three  hundred  and 
thirty-two  miles  west. 

The  easternmost  part  of  Xew  Guinea  lies  forty  miles 
to  the  westward  of  this  tract  of  land ;  and  by  hydro- 
graphers  they  are  made  joining  together ;  but  here  I 
found  an  opening  and  passage  between,  with  many 
islands,  the  largest  of  which  lie  on  the  north  side  of 
this  passage  or  strait.  The  channel  is  very  good,  be- 
tween the  islands  and  the  land  to  tlie  eastward.  The  east 
part  of  Kew  Guinea  is  high  and  mountainous,  ending 
on  the  north-east  with  a  large  promontciT,  wliich  I 
named  King  William's  Cape,  in  honour  of  his  present 
Majesty.  "We  saw  some  smoke  on  it,  and  leaving  it  on 
our  larboard  side,  steered  away  near  the  east  land,  which 
ends  with  two  remarkalile  capes  or  heads,  distant  from 
each  other  about  six  or  seven  leagues  :  within  each  head 
were  two  very  remarkable  mountains,  ascending  very 
gradually  from   the  sea-sicle,  which    afforded  a  very 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       183 

pleasant  and  ac^recable  prospect.  The  mountains  and 
the  lower  land  were  pleasantly  mixed  with  woodland 
and  savannahs  ;  the  trees  appeared  very  green  and 
flourishing,  and  the  savannahs  seemed  to  he  very 
smooth  and  even ;  no  meadow  in  England  appears  more 
green  in  the  spring  than  these.  We  saw  smoke,  but 
did  not  strive  to  anchor  here,  but  rather  chose  to  get 
under  one  of  the  islands  (where  I  thought  I  should 
find  few  or  no  inhabitants),  that  I  might  repair  my 
pinnace,  which  was  so  crazy  that  I  could  not  venture 
ashore  anywhere  with  her.  As  we  stood  over  to  the 
islands,  we  looked  out  very  well  to  the  north,  but  could 
see  no  land  that  way;  by  which  I  was  well  assured 
that  we  were  got  through,  and  that  this  east  land  does 
not  join  to  New  Guinea ;  therefore  I  named  it  Nova 
Britannia.  The  north-west  cape  I  called  Cape  Glou- 
cester, and  the  south-west-point  Cape  Anne ;  and  tho 
north-west  mountain,  which  is  very  remarkable,  I  called 
Mount  Gloucester. 

This  island  which  I  called  Nova  Britannia,  has 
about  4'^  of  latitude  :  the  body  of  it  lying  in  4^^,  and 
the  nordiernmost  part  in  2°  32',  and  the  southernmost 
in  6^  30'  south.  It  has  about  5°  18'  longitude  from 
east  to  west.  It  is  generally  high  mountainous  land, 
mixed  with  large  valleys,  which,  as  well  as  the  moun- 
tains appeared  very  fertile ;  and  in  most  places  that 
we  saw,  the  trees  are  very  large,  tall  and  thick.  It 
is  also  very  well  inhabited  with  strong  well-limbed 
negroes,  whom   we  found  very   daring   and   bold   at 


184        EARLY  AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

several  places.  As  to  the  product  of  it,  I  know  no 
more  than  what  I  have  said  in  my  account  of  Port 
MontagTie ;  but  it  is  very  probable  this  island  may 
afford  as  many  rich  commodities  as  any  in  the  "world ; 
and  the  natives  may  be  easily  brought  to  commerce, 
though  I  could  not  pretend  to  it  under  my  present  cir- 
cumstances. 

Being  near  the  island  to  the  northward  of  the 
volcano,  I  sent  my  boat  to  sound,  thinking  to  anchor 
here,  but  she  returned  and  brought  me  word,  that  they 
had  no  ground  till  they  met  with  a  reef  of  coral  rocks 
about  a  mile  from  the  sliore,  then  I  bore  away  to  the 
north  side  of  the  island,  where  we  found  no  anchoring 
neither.  We  saw  several  people,  and  some  cocoa-nut 
trees,  but  could  not  send  ashore  for  want  of  my  pinnace, 
which  was  out  of  order.  In  the  evening  I  stood  off  to 
sea,  to  be  at  such  a  distance  that  I  might  not  be  driven 
by  any  current  upon  the  shoals  of  this  island,  if  it 
should  prove  calm.  We  had  but  little  wind,  especially 
the  beginning  of  the  night ;  but  in  the  morning  I  found 
myseK  so  far  to  the  west  of  the  island,  that  the  wind 
being  at  east-south-east,  I  could  not  fetch  it,  wherefore 
I  kept  on  to  the  southward,  and  stemmed  with  the  body 
of  a  high  island  about  eleven  or  twelve  leagues  long, 
lying  to  the  southward  of  that  which  I  before  de- 
signed for.  I  named  this  island  Sir  George  Rook's 
Island. 

We  also  saw  some  other  islands  to  the  westward, 
which  may  be  better  seen  in  my  draft  of  these  lands 


DAMPIER's   ACCOTJNT   of   new   HOLLAND.       185 

than  here  described ;  but  seeing  a  very  small  island 
lying  to  the  north-west  of  the  long  island  which  was 
before  us,  and  not  far  from  it,  I  steered  away  for  that, 
hoping  to  find  anchoring  there ;  and  having  but  little 
wind,  I  sent  my  boat  before  to  sound,  which,  when  we 
were  about  two  miles'  distance  from  the  shore,  came  on 
board  and  brought  me  word  that  there  was  good  anchor- 
ing in  thirty  or  forty  fathom  water,  a  mile  from  the 
isle,  and  within  a  reef  of  the  rocks  which  lay  in  a  half- 
moon,  reaching  from  the  north  part  of  the  island  to  the 
south-east ;  so  at  noon  we  got  in  and  anchored  in 
thirty-six  fathom,  a  mile  from  the  isle. 

In  the  afternoon  I  sent  my  boat  ashore  to  the  island, 
to  see  what  convenience  there  was  to  haul  our  vessel 
ashore  in  order  to  be  mended,  and  whether  we  could 
catch  any  fish.  My  men  in  the  boat  rowed  about  the 
island,  but  could  not  land  by  reason  of  the  rocks  and  a 
great  surge  running  in  upon  the  shore.  We  found 
variation  here,  8°    25'  west. 

I  designed  to  have  stayed  among  these  islands  till  I 
got  my  pinnace  refitted ;  but  having  no  more  than  one 
man  who  had  skill  to  work  upon  her,  I  saw  she  would 
be  a  long  time  in  repairing  (which  was  one  great 
reason  why  I  could  not  prosecute  my  discoveries  fur- 
ther) ;  and  the  easterly  winds  being  set  in,  I  found  I 
should  scarce  be  able  to  hold  my  ground. 

The  31st,  in  the  forenoon,  Ave  shot  in  between  two 
islands,  lying  about  four  leagues  asunder,  with  inten- 
tion to  pass  between  them.    The  southernmost  is  a  long 


186  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

island,  with  a  liigli  liill  at  eacli  end  ;  this  I  named 
Long  Island.  The  northernmost  is  a  round  high  island 
towering  up  with  several  heads  or  tops,  something  re- 
sembling a  crown ;  this  I  named  Crown  Isle  from  its 
form.  Both  these  islands  appeared  very  pleasant,  having 
spots  of  green  savannahs  mixed  among  the  wood-land  : 
the  trees  appeared  very  green  and  flourishing,  and 
some  of  them  looked  white  and  full  of  blossoms.  We 
passed  close  by  Crown  Isle,  saw  many  cocoa-nut  trees 
on  the  bays  and  sides  of  the  hills ;  and  one  boat  was 
coming  off  from  the  shore,  but  returned  again.  We 
saw  no  smoke  on  either  of  the  islands,  neither  did  we 
see  any  plantations,  and  it  is  probable  they  are  not  very 
well  i)eopled.  We  saw  many  shoals  near  Crown  Island, 
and  reefs  of  rocks  running  off  from  the  j)oints  a  mile 
or  more  into  the  sea :  my  boat  was  once  overboard,  with 
design  to  have  sent  her  ashore,  but  having  little  wind, 
and  seeing  some  shoals,  I  hoisted  her  in  again,  and 
stood  off  out  of  danger. 

In  the  afternoon,  seeing  an  island  bearing  north- 
west-by-west, we  steered  away  north-west- by-north, 
to  be  to  the  northward  of  it.  The  next  morning,  Ijeing 
about  midway  from  the  islands  we  left  yesterday,  and 
having  this  to  the  westward  of  us,  the  land  of  the  main  of 
New  Guinea  within  us  to  the  southward,  appeared  very 
high.  When  we  came  within  four  or  five  leagues  of 
this  island  to  the  west  of  us,  four  boats  came  off  to 
view  us,  one  came  within  call,  but  returned  with  the 
other  three  without  speaking  to  us  ;  so  we  kept  on  for 


DAMPIEK's   account   of   new    HOLLAND.       187 

the  island,  wliicli  I  named  Sir  R.  Rich's  Island.  It 
was  pretty  high,  woody,  and  mixed  with  savannahs 
like  those  formerly  mentioned.  Being  to  the  north  of 
it,  we  saw  an  opening  between  it  and  another  island  two 
leagues  to  the  west  of  it,  which  before  appeared  all  in 
one.  The  main  seemed  to  be  high  land,  trending  to  tlie 
westward. 

On  Tuesday,  the  2nd  of  April,  about  eight  in  the 
morning,  we  discovered  a  high-peaked  island  to  the 
westward,  which  seemed  to  smoke  at  its  top :  the  next 
day  we  passed  by  the  north  side  of  the  Burning  Island, 
and  saw  smoke  again  at  its  top,  but  the  vent  lying  on 
the  south  side  of  the  peak,  we  could  not  observe  it 
distinctly,  nor  see  the  fire.  We  afterwards  opened 
three  more  islands,  and  some  land  to  the  southward, 
which  we  could  not  well  tell  whether  it  were  islands 
or  part  of  the  main.  These  islands  are  all  high,  full 
of  fair  trees  and  spots  of  great  savannahs,  as  well  the 
Burning  Isle  as  the  rest ;  but  the  Burning  Isle  was 
more  round  and  peaked  at  top,  very  fine  land  near  the 
sea,  and  for  two-thirds  up  it :  we  also  saw  another  isle 
sending  forth  a  great  smoke  at  once,  but  it  soon 
vanished,  and  we  saw  it  no  more  ;  we  saw  also  among 
these  islands  tliree  small  vessels  with  sails,  which  the 
people  of  ISTova  Britannia  seem  wholly  ignorant  of. 

The  lltli,  at  noon,  having  a  very  good  observation, 
I  found  myself  to  the  northward  of  m}^  reckoning,  and 
thence  concluded  that  we  had  a  current  setting  nortli- 
west,  or  rather  more  westerly,  as  the  land  lies.     From 


188  EARLY   AUSTRALIAN  VOYAGES. 

tliat  time  to  tlie  next  morning  we  liaci  fair  clear  weather, 
and  a  fine  moderate  gale  from  south-east  to  east-by- 
north  :  but  at  daybreak  the  clouds  began  to  fly.  and  it 
lightened  very  much  in  the  east,  south-east,  and  north- 
east. At  sun-rising,  the  sky  looked  very  red  in  the 
cast  near  the  horizon,  and  there  were  many  black  clouds 
both  to  the  south  and  north  of  it.'  About  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  after  the  sun  was  up,  there  was  a  squall  to  the 
windward  of  us ;  when  on  a  sudden  one  of  our  men  on 
the  forecastle  called  out  that  he  saw  something  astern, 
but  could  not  tell  what :  I  looked  out  for  it,  and  imme- 
diately saw  a  spout  beginning  to  work  within  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  of  us,  exactly  in  the  wind  :  we  presently  put 
right  before  it.  It  came  very  swiftly,  whirling  the 
water  iip  in  a  pillar  about  six  or  seven  yards  high.  As 
yet  I  could  not  see  any  pendulous  cloud,  from  whence 
it  might  come,  and  was  in  hopes  it  would  soon  lose  its 
force.  In  four  or  five  minutes'  time  it  came  within  a 
cable's  length  of  us,  and  passed  away  to  leeward,  and 
then  I  saw  a  long  pale  stream  coming  down  to  the 
whirling  water.  This  stream  was  about  the  bigness  of 
a  rainbow :  the  upper  end  seemed  vastly  high,  not 
descending  from  any  dark  cloud,  and  therefore  the 
more  strange  to  me,  I  never  having  seen  the  like  be- 
fore. It  passed  about  a  mile  to  leeward  of  us,  and  then 
broke.  This  was  but  a  small  spout,  not  strong  nor 
lasting ;  yet  I  perceived  much  wind  in  it  as  it  passed 
by  us.  The  current  still  continued  at  north-west  a 
little  westerly,  vv'hich  I  allowed  to  run  a  mile  per  hour. 


DAMPIER's   account   of   new   HOLLAND.       189 

By  an  observation  tlie  13th,  at  noon,  I  found  myself 
25'  to  the  nortliward  of  my  reckoning ;  whether  occa- 
sioned by  bad  steerage,  a  bad  account,  or  a  current,  I 
could  not  determine  ;  but  was  apt  to  judge  it  might  be 
a  complication  of  all ;  for  I  could  not  think  it  was 
wholly  the  current,  the  land  here  lying  east-by-south, 
and  west-by-north,  or  a  little  more  northerly  and 
southerly.  We  had  kept  so  nigh  as  to  see  it,  and  at 
farthest  had  not  been  above  twenty  leagues  from  it, 
but  sometimes  much  nearer ;  and  it  is  not  probable 
that  any  current  should  set  directly  off  from  a  land. 
A  tide  indeed  may ;  but  then  the  flood  has  the  same 
force  to  strike  in  upon  the  shore,  as  the  ebb  to  strike 
off  from  it :  but  a  current  must  have  set  nearly  along 
shore,  either  easterly  or  westerly  ;  and  if  anything 
northerly  or  southerly,  it  could  be  but  very  little  in 
comparison  of  its  east  or  west  course,  on  a  coast  lying 
as  this  doth ;  which  yet  we  did  not  perceive.  If 
therefore  we  were  deceived  by  a  current,  it  is  very 
probable  that  the  laud  is  here  disjoined,  and  tliat  tliere 
is  a  passage  through  to  the  southward,  and  that  the 
land  from  King ,  William's  Cape  to  this  place  is  ai> 
island,  sex^arated  from  New  Guinea  by  some  strait,  as 
Nova  Britannia  is  by  that  which  we  came  through. 
But  this  being  at  best  but  a  probable  conjecture,  I  shall 
insist  no  farther  upon  it. 

The  14th  we  j^assed  by  Scouten's  Island,  and  Provi- 
dence Island,  and  found  still  a  very  strong  current  setting 
to  the  north-west.    On  the  17th  y/e  saw  a  high  mountain 


190  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN-   VOYAGES. 

on  the  maiu,  tliat  sent  for.'h  great  quantities  of  smoke 
from  its  top  :  this  volcano  we  did  not  see  in  our  voyage 
out.  In  the  afternoon  we  discovered  King  William's 
Island,  and  crowded  all  the  sail  we  could  to  get  near 
it  before  night,  thinking  to  lie  to  the  eastward  of  it  till 
day,  for  fear  of  some  shoals  that  lie  at  the  west  end  of 
it.  Before  night  we  got  within  two  leagues  of  it,  and 
having  a  fine  gale  of  wind  and  a  light  moon,  I  resolved 
to  pass  through  in  the  night,  which  I  hoped  to  do  before 
twelve  o'clock,  if  the  gale  continued ;  but  when  we 
came  within  two  miles  of  it,  it  fell  calm  :  yet  afterwards 
by  the  lielp  of  the  current,  a  small  gale,  and  our  boat, 
we  got  through  before  day.  In  the  night  we  had  a 
ver}^  fragrant  smell  from  the  island.  By  morning 
light  we  were  got  two  leagues  to  the  westward  of  it : 
and  then  were  becalmed  all  the  morning ;  and  met 
such  whirling  tides,  that  when  we  came  into  them,  the 
ship  turned  quite  round :  and  though  sometimes  we 
had  a  small  gale  of  wind,  yet  she  could  not  feel  the  helm 
when  she  came  into  these  whirlpools  :  neither  could  we 
get  from  amongst  them,  till  a  brisk  gale  sprung  up ; 
yet  we  drove  not  much  any  way,  but  whirled  round 
like  a  top.  And  those  whirlpools  were  not  constant  to 
one  place  but  drove  about  strangely:  and  sometimes, 
we  saw  among  them  large  ripplings  of  the  water,  like 
great  over-falls  making  a  fearful  noise.  I  sent  my 
boat  to  sound,  but  found  no  ground. 

The  18th  Cal3e  Mabo  bore  south,  distance  nine  leagues ; 
by  which  account  it  lies  in  the  latitude  of  50'  south. 


DAMPIER'S   account   of   new   HOLLAND,       191 

and  meridian  distance  from  Cax)e  St.  George  one  thou- 
sand two  hundred  and  forty-three  miles.  St.  John's 
Isle  lies  forty-eight  miles  to  the  east  of  Cape  St. 
George ;  which  being  added  to  tlie  distance  between 
Cape  St.  George  and  Cape  Maljo,  makes  one  thousand 
two  hundred  and  ninety-one  meridional  x^'ii'fs ;  which 
was  the  furthest  that  I  was  to  the  east.  In  my  out- 
w^ard-bound  voyage  I  made  meridian  distance  between 
Cape  Mabo  and  Cape  St.  George,  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  ;  and  now  in  my  return,  but 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  forty-three  ;  which  is 
forty-seven  short  of  my  distance  going  out.  This  dif- 
ference may  probably  be  occasioned  by  the  strong  wes- 
tern current  which  Ave  found  in  our  return,  which  I 
allowed  for  after  I  perceived  it ;  and  though  we  did 
not  discern  any  current  when  we  went  to  the  eastward, 
except  when  near  the  islands,  yet  it  is  probable  Ave  liad 
one  against  us,  though  we  did  not  take  notice  of  it  be- 
cause of  the  strong  westerly  winds.  King  William's 
Island  lies  in  the  latitude  of  21'  south,  and  may  be  seen 
distinctly  off  Cape  Mabo. 

In  the  evening  Ave  passed  by  Cape  Mabo;  and  after- 
wards steered  aAvay  south-east  half -east,  keeping  along 
the  shore,  Avhich  here  trends  south-easterly.  The  next 
morning,  seeing  a  large  opening  in  the  land,  with  an 
island  near  the  south  side ;  I  stood  in,  thinking  to 
anchor  there.  When  we  were  shot  in  within  tAvo  leagues 
of  the  island,  the  wind  came  to  the  AA'est,  Avhich  blows 
right  into  the  opening,     I  stood  to  tlie  north  shore, 


192  EARLY  AUSTRALIAN   VOYAGES. 

iuteuding,  when  I  came  pretty  nigh,  to  seud  my  boat 
into  tlie  opening,  and  sound,  before  I  would  venture  in. 
We  found  several  deep  bays,  but  no  soundings  within 
two  miles  of  the  shore  ;  therefore  I  stood  off  again, 
then  seeing  a  rippling  under  our  lee,  I  sent  my  boat  to 
sound  on  it ;  which  returned  in  half  an  hour,  and 
brought  me  word  that  the  rippling  we  saw  was  only  a 
tide,  and  that  they  had  no  ground  there. 


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